Super Smash Bros Ultimate: World of Light
by Krosshair
Summary: In the immediate aftermath of the Newcomer Ceremony, Master Hand had mysteriously disappeared without a trace. While searching for him, the Smashers are drawn into a familiar and terrifying situation. Takes place in the same universe as "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Everyone is HERE!"
1. The Purge of Light

**So, this is the beginning of the World of Light. I don't have much to say, other than the fact that this is set in the same AU as my previous Smash story, so... enjoy.**

* * *

 _ **Smash Mansion...**_

* * *

Fox, having been assigned as the leader for the group due to him being a veteran who had performed consistently well throughout the tournament's history, overlooked the massive crowd of people before him, and almost smiled at the sight before him. It had been the morning after the roster reveal, and Master Hand was nowhere to be found.

Every Smasher stood outside on the front lawn of the Mansion, raring to go. Even Red, who was shaken up the worst by the Subspace incident, stood next to Leaf, ready to help.

Fox began, "Okay, I understand that the Smashers who only came around starting with the fourth and fifth tournaments aren't familiar with what happened at the third. It's... really an incident that we don't like to talk about, R.O.B especially."

Everyone who had attended the third tournament nodded in agreement. Fox then continued, "During the third tournament, Master Hand was kidnapped and enslaved by a Wireframe from the second tournament named Tabuu, who had somehow gained omnipotence in the time between the second and the third tournaments. Tabuu had a plan to absorb every realm in the World of Trophies to create a world fit to his vision and his vision only. Through using Master Hand as a proxy, he roped Bowser, Ganondorf, and Wario into his service."

Bowser and Wario shared guilty looks, while Ganondorf huffed before beckoning for the space mammal to continue. Fox obliged, saying, "He very nearly succeeded too, and we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the combined efforts of Luigi, Ness, Kirby, and King Dedede, along with a miraculous last-second assist from Sonic, who had gotten lost in Subspace."

Dedede ruffled Kirby on the head a little, while Mario gave a thumbs-up to his brother and Ness. Sonic, meanwhile, had given a toothy grin.

"The Subspace incident can only be explained in full by R.O.B himself, as he was in the epicenter of the massive kudzu of a plot Tabuu had planned."

R.O.B, after glaring at Ganondorf, beeped out a response that Mega Man had translated as, "It's true. I was manipulated into serving Tabuu's army because of the promise that he would save my race. After the destruction of the Isle of the Ancients, I realized that I was a fool to trust his promises. Do you know why there are no others like me in the universe? It was because they were all forced to detonate a massive amount of Subspace Bombs, the amount of which was so great, it tore apart the Isle of the Ancients and doomed it to drift endlessly in Subspace forever."

Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Olimar, Captain Falcon, Samus, and Pikachu had all looked at Ganondorf, who shrugged in a nonchalant manner.

After a moment of silence, Fox said, "Do you know why I told you this?"

Every Smasher shook their heads, and Fox continued, "Because we've found Master Hand. He's at the cliff that we were dumped on after the Subspace realm closed up. Everyone have transport?"

Meta Knight piped up, "I have the Halberd for anyone who doesn't have a reliable means of transport. Raise your hands if you don't have a way to get to the cliff."

All of the Pokémon except for Mewtwo boarded the ship, and Red and Leaf followed suit. Once they were done, a significant portion of the Smashers joined them in boarding the battleship.

With that settled, everyone else got their method of transport from the garage, and after a little fuss on the runway regarding aerial traffic, the Smashers were cleared for takeoff.

Fox and Falco's Arwings, Wolf's Wolfen, Mario's Odyssey ship (with Luigi and the two princesses onboard), Bowser's Doom Ship, Rosalina's Comet Observatory, the Halberd, Kirby's Warp Star, Captain Falcon's Falcon Flyer, Donkey and Diddy Kong's Barrel Plane, Samus' Gunship, and Olimar's ship took to the skies.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Yoshi ate a blue Koopa Shell, sprouted wings, and took flight, being joined by Ridley, Banjo, and the two angels. Palutena, Mewtwo, and Zelda warped to the destination, Dark Samus opened a wormhole and went through that, Bayonetta turned into a swarm of bats and joined the others up in the sky, Ganondorf opened a vortex of dark energy and stepped through, Ness and Lucas warmed up PK Teleport, Snake opened up a wormhole fulton using the device he had recovered from Venom Snake's hideout in Outer Heaven, and Isaac put his hand on his son's shoulder before casting Teleport Psynergy on the two of them.

* * *

 _ **The Craggy Outlook...**_

* * *

Snake had got there first, and looked back to make sure that he wasn't alone. As if on cue, Palutena, Mewtwo, Zelda, Dark Samus, Ganondorf, Isaac, Matthew, Ness, and Lucas appeared shortly after. Before Snake could say anything, however, he heard a massive roar in the skies and looked up to see everyone else coming in for a landing. Yoshi, Banjo, Ridley, and the angels touched down on the ground. Samus' Gunship and the captain's Falcon Flyer were next, followed by Mario's Odyssey, the Doom Ship, Kirby on his Warp Star, the Halberd, the Barrel Plane, the Comet Observatory, and Olimar's ship. Bayonetta landed gracefully on the ground, and everyone onboard the Halberd had stepped out before the Arwings and the Wolfen arrived. Now that everyone had arrived, Fox pulled out the tracker, and found Master Hand's location to be right in front of them. Looking up, his jaw dropped at what he saw.

A massive core of light, shrouded in wings, commanded an _army_ of Master Hands.

Regaining his composure, Fox pulled out his pistol, pointed it at the mass of hands in the sky, and commanded, "Don't let a single one get away!"

Wolf also stepped to the front, and huffed, "You think that puny gun's going to stop those... things?"

As Fox gave Wolf an irritated look, Marth, standing behind them, mused, "We'll each need to take down about ten..."

Zelda showed up, saying, "Stow your fear, it's now or never!"

Pit, ever the optimist, said, "We'll win this, I know we will!"

Meanwhile, up in the sky, all of the hands' coverings began to peel off, revealing a blue light which was promptly absorbed by the core that was commanding them, which formed a singularity.

Shulk then received a vision. It was short, but what he had seen was enough: one by one, the fighters would be consumed by the light, and Kirby would be the only survivor.

Now back to reality, Shulk turned back to the massive crowd of fighters, cast Speed on Kirby, and bellowed, "WE NEED TO FLEE RIGHT NOW!"

For a single moment, there was no sound.

Then, they heard a loud bang from the massive singularity. An almost limitless stream of light beams poured out of it, flying in an erratic fashion, before targeting the group of Smashers at the cliff.

Shulk and Fox were the first to go. Link, in a valiant effort to fight against the beams, managed to reflect some of the lasers back, but was caught off guard by a third and promptly vaporized by a fourth. Samus unloaded all of her ammunition into the beam of light coming for her, but that was fruitless, and she, too, was disintegrated. Up above, Zelda and Mewtwo were caught off guard by beams, Zelda attempted to cast Nayru's Love in an attempt to protect herself, and Mewtwo used Confusion to try and send the beam back. Both were unsuccessful.

Upon seeing some of the most powerful of their ranks being so easily defeated, the rest of the Smashers took that as a cue to run. Olimar was immediately caught by a beam, as were Isabelle and Leaf. Red, after a moment of shock, began to run. Peach faced the beams with dignity, while Daisy defiantly spouted insults at the light as it mowed over the both of them. Yoshi, meanwhile, had beckoned for a shell-shocked Mario to hop on his back, which the plumber did so in a stupor, and the dinosaur took off.

Kirby had hopped onto his Warp Star, and slowly began to build up speed. Dark Samus was tagged by a laser as she had attempted to warp herself away, while Ganondorf was caught when he attempted to do the same thing. Dr. Mario, similar to Princess Peach, simply stared at the beams, thinking, _"This is what I did with my doctorate?"_ as he was disintegrated.

Sonic, meanwhile, had taken off in a full-on run. Looking back, he noticed Pikachu running slightly behind him, and with a beam of light hot on his tail. Sonic slowed down a bit, yelling at Pikachu, "Come on, buddy! Jump into my arms!"

Before Pikachu could do so, the beam of light tagged him, and he was gone. Sonic let out a noise of grief as another light consumed him.

Meanwhile, Bayonetta, Greninja, Lucario, and Sheik were desperately trying to dodge the beams. Bayonetta had managed to dodge a formation of light coming for her, and also vaulted over a fourth, but didn't notice the fifth one coming straight for her, and was promptly tagged, making the Umbra Witches an extinct race. Lucario dodged a beam coming straight for him, and Greninja jumped out of the way of another beam coming for the two of them. This time, however, Lucario was too slow, and was disintegrated in short order. Greninja saw Sheik teleport out of the way of another beam, and activated his Substitute, but unwittingly flew right into the path of a beam. Sheik, now helpless from using her Vanish, was promptly caught by the light.

Pac-Man had eaten his Power and Super Pellets, and was eating the beams and covering for other fighters. However, his timer had run out for his Super Pac-Man form, and he was caught by a beam.

Wario, meanwhile, was dodging the numerous beams coming for him on the ground, only to be caught flush by one. However, as the light faded, it revealed that Wario was completely unharmed. As he marveled at his durability, Wario saw a massive cavalcade of light beams heading towards him, and he rolled up his sleeves and charged at the light, which finally took him down.

At the same time, Red had sent out Charizard, Ivysaur, and Squirtle desperately commanding them to leave. The three refused, wanting to stick with their trainer till the bitter end. Tears in his eyes, Red commanded them to unleash everything they had, while he was thinking, _"I never should've trusted Master Hand..."_ as he and his team were vaporized.

Next to where Red had once stood, Bowser, Geno, and Luigi watched in horror as the teenager was caught by the beams of light. Upon seeing the lasers gunning for the three of them, Bowser gave Luigi and Geno a grim nod, and immediately unleashed his fire breath at the light. Geno followed suit, firing a Geno Whirl. Luigi, even though fear was clearly present in his eyes, bravely pulled out his Poltergust and unleashed a tri-elemental swirl of fire, ice, and water in the hopes of doing at least _something_. None of them survived.

Captain Falcon, meanwhile, tried to hop into his Blue Falcon, but got caught before his butt even touched the seat.

Wolf and Ridley, in an act of defiance, flew straight at the beams of light, the two of them dodging any beams that came at them. Wolf had fired out a burst of lasers before he and his Wolfen were caught overextending on a dodge. Ridley, meanwhile, let loose with the plasma beam he had been charging up, but was ultimately vaporized along with Wolf. Falco had already taken flight in his Arwing, but got tagged by the beams converging in on his ship.

Meanwhile, Mario had come to his senses, and Yoshi began to run faster upon seeing a beam of light coming for the two of them. Upon the realization that the both of them weren't going to make it, Yoshi looked back at Mario, and urgently motioned for him to keep running no matter what happened. As Mario pondered that in confusion, Yoshi threw Mario to his right and out of the way of the path of the beam that was coming for the both of them. The dinosaur was obliterated soon after. Mario then collapsed to his knees, grieving for his fallen friend and presumably his brother as the next beam of light washed over him.

Simon and Richter were both staring at the lights coming for them, and they both nodded and unleashed their entire arsenals at the light, which turned out to be fruitless. Next to them, Ryu and Ken had faced the light with dignity, and both were gone shortly after.

Meggy and Evan desperately inked the ground around them and jumped in, the Piranha Plant hid in his Warp Pipe, and Isaac and Matthew both cast Clay Spire in an attempt to create a barrier. It didn't work, and all five of them were disintegrated in short order.

Popo and Nana, seeing no way out of the predicament before them, held each other in an embrace, Nana quietly crying in Popo's parka before the light devoured them.

Marth, Ike, and Roy had called for Warp magic, and were vaporized immediately, while Chrom and Robin held Lucina before they too were obliterated. Corrin, meanwhile, had collapsed to her knees, uttering, "This can't be..." before getting swallowed by the light.

Young Link attempted to play the Song of Time, but due to a combination of stress and panic, he kept playing the wrong notes on his ocarina before getting caught by a beam just as he was about to finish the song. Toon Link got caught by a beam as he tried to climb up a cliff using his hookshot.

Palutena, meanwhile, had sent Pit and Dark Pit away with the Power of Flight, with Banjo and Kazooie flying near the two of them. Palutena pulled up her Reflect Barrier as a beam of light barreled into her, but that was useless. With Palutena gone, both Pits lost the ability to fly and began to fall. Banjo swooped down and picked the two of them up, struggling to fly with the extra weight. Both Pits were then tagged by the light, and Kazooie activated Wonderwing mid-flight as a beam of light washed over them. Both turned out perfectly unscathed, but since Kazooie had used the last of the Golden Feathers, they couldn't protect themselves from the next beam.

Down on the ground, Ness and Lucas were trembling in fear at the prospect of getting killed by the lights. Scared, but determined, Ness activated his PK Magnet, shielding himself, Lucas, Jigglypuff, and Pichu. Lucas also activated his own shield, and when the light crashed into them, the shield actually held up… for about 10 seconds. All four of them were vaporized after the PK Magnet broke.

Snake, having seen many of his close friends vaporized, started to panic and hid in his cardboard box. Desperately activating his Codec, he sighed in relief as Otacon came on the line.

"Snake?! What's happening? The Mansion's being attacked by beams of light! They've currently started attacking the Assist Trophy room, and I think they got Frank!"

Snake cursed as he realized that Otacon was talking about Gray Fox. Otacon paused, and with his voice slightly increasing in pitch, he called, "Sunny? Where are you? Sunny?! SUNN-"

The line went dead, replaced by the crackle of static.

"Otacon? Otacon?! OTTAAACOOOONNN!"

Snake then began to reactivate the wormhole fulton, but looked up to see a beam of light passing over his box. Deciding that it was now or never, Snake activated the device and jumped into the wormhole, the beam of light turning around and obliterating the box just as Snake vanished.

Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong had managed to slip by unseen throughout most of the purge, and both were hiding behind a large rock face. To their left, Incineroar and the Miis had valiantly gone down swinging after being cornered in a massive valley. Donkey Kong saw K. Rool to his right and did not hesitate in throwing Diddy up into the air, which caused the monkey to activate his Rocketbarrel Pack. Diddy looked down on the ground to see DK and K. Rool locked in combat before a large beam of light obliterated the rock face, along with the two of them.

Recoiling in horror, Diddy forced the thrusters to exude more power, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rosalina flying by with her Luma. The three of them were vaporized by a beam of light that came from below. Little Mac had been chased by the same beam of light for almost a minute, due to him having used the terrain as a distraction for the beam, until he was in a wide open space. Turning around, Little Mac screamed in terror as the beam washed over him. Mega Man fired a Black Hole Bomb, which sucked in a nearby formation of beams. Attempting to warp away from the Craggy Outlook, he was caught by a beam before he was fully gone.

R.O.B looked at the beam of light coming straight for him, and closed his eyes, accepting the inevitable.

Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings were all huddled behind a rock formation, with Larry quietly sobbing, "I don't want to die..." as the rest of the Koopalings attempted to comfort him. The eight of them were promptly destroyed by a laser which punched right through the boulders.

Cloud stood at the front of the cliff, exhausted from dodging beams, and summoned Meteorain to provide a distraction for whoever was left before he was obliterated in short order.

Villager, meanwhile, had managed to find the Wii Fit Trainer, the Duck Hunt duo, and Mr. Game & Watch. All four of them looked up to see a large beam of light coming for them. Villager panicked and ran around aimlessly, terror present in his eyes, the dog cowered and covered his eyes while the duck tried to lift the two of them to fly to safety, Wii Fit Trainer did some yoga, resigned to her fate, and Mr. Game & Watch transformed into the Octopus. All four of them were devoured by the light, Game & Watch lasting a bit longer than the others.

Meanwhile, King Dedede and Meta Knight were providing cover for Kirby, who dodged every beam that came at him. Dedede smacked away a beam that was homing in on Kirby, and Meta Knight parried another beam using Galaxia. The beams saw Meta Knight as the bigger threat in their mission to take out Kirby, so a stray beam gunned straight for the masked swordsman. Right before the beam had gotten to Meta Knight, however, Dedede shoved Meta Knight out of the way and took the full brunt of the laser, disappearing. After a small break in his stoic demeanor, Meta Knight flew up to Kirby and urgently commanded, "Kirby! No matter what happens to Dedede and I, just. Keep. GOING!"

Kirby gave a small, but frightened nod, and promptly pushed the Warp Star to its absolute limit. Meta Knight noticed a large number of beams coming for Kirby, urgently parrying away the whole formation, and behind him, he heard the Warp Star vanish out of existence just as a beam consumed him.

* * *

 _ **...**_


	2. The Spirits Come Out to Play

**Kirby is a name you should know by now, as he's the star of the show. Meanwhile, the other fighters... aren't doing so well.**

* * *

 _ **Unknown location...**_

* * *

When he opened his eyes, Mario found himself in a dark, featureless area, and looked down to see that he was bound in thin blue chains of light.

A voice reverberated around him, saying, _"So this is the oldest of the Smashers. I'm disappointed, to be quite honest."_

Mario, fear present in his voice, called out, "Who are you?"

 _"You don't need to know the answer to that, Mario. Close your eyes, and I will take you to the rest of your friends. You'll see your brother and the princess again..."_

Mario did what the voice asked of him, and he felt a warm feeling on his head, which slowly spread to the rest of his body before leaving just as slowly. The voice said, _"You can open your eyes now."_

Mario opened his eyes, and what he saw almost made him lose his breakfast. A lifeless statue devoid of color of him lay on the ground, and a small ball of light floated over it. Inside the light, Mario could barely make out the shape of a Smoky Progg, one of the creatures he had heard Olimar describe in horrifying detail regarding his escapades in space. The ball of light vanished into his body, and the colorless Mario on the ground slowly rose to its legs and opened its eyes, which glowed a bright red. The last thing Mario saw was a red haze.

As the once-inanimate clone walked off and joined the rest of its Spirit counterparts, the disembodied voice said, _"Now with the addition of Mario, my collection of Puppet Fighters is almost complete, except for two. Who could they possibly be?"_

* * *

In the middle of a dark and desolate cliffside, Kirby phased back into existence on his Warp Star, which disappeared after he crashed into the ground due to the Warp Star having extinguished all of its energy trying to get away from the Craggy Outlook. After he had finally slid to a stop, Kirby took a moment to take in his surroundings.

The sky was dark, with only the faintest cracks of light shining through the clouds, and in front of him, he saw a massive, sprawling, maze with that same core of light resting in the center. After he spent a bit looking around for anyone else that could've possibly survived and found no one, the little pink puffball began to tear up. Before he could start crying, however, a crackle of electricity next to him caught him off guard, and who he saw as the camouflage was deactivated brought him a little bit of hope.

Solid Snake, still in a three-point stance, turned to the puffball and said, "C'mon, kid, we've got some friends to save."

After the two jumped down from the large cliff they were dumped on after the entire debacle, they found themselves on top of a grassy mountain. The duo descended down the hill until they were confronted by a ball of multicolored light. Before the duo could react, a pair of gloves snatched the two and pulled them inside the orb.

* * *

 _ **Distant Planet...**_

* * *

Snake pulled Kirby up and took a look at their assailant. To their surprise, it had turned out to be Mario. But, this Mario wasn't wearing his traditional red and blue shirt and overalls, instead they were colored white and black. This Mario also had glowing red eyes, an indication that something wasn't quite right up there. Gritting his teeth, Snake pulled out his RPG-7 and fired a rocket straight at Mario, causing a fiery explosion. When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Mario was not only perfectly unharmed, but he could also transform into metal at will. As the metallic Mario charged in a full-on sprint, Snake only managed to utter, "Son of a..."

The Mario copy had then lunged forward with a downward punch, which Snake barely dodged. Mario had changed back to normal, so Snake took the opportunity to knee him in the face and follow up with his jab-jab-kick combination, which knocked the Mario clone away a fair distance. The clone shifted back to metal and charged again, instead aiming for Kirby. Before Snake could call out a warning, however, Kirby had grabbed the metal impostor and piledrove him into the ground before following up with a flurry of kicks. Realizing that the pink puffball was tougher than he gave credit for, Snake joined Kirby in attacking the Mario clone, which tried its best before ultimately succumbing to the combined efforts of the two. As the copy stood, dazed, Snake took the opportunity to plant a land mine in the dirt, and Kirby performed an Air Drop onto the mine while holding the Mario clone, sending it flying sky high.

After the Mario clone had vanished, a little bag dropped out of the sky with the words, "Spirit Pouch" scrawled on it. As if on cue, a little ball of light also flew out from the bag, and inside of it was an olive green mollusk that appeared to be phasing in and out of existence. Then, a small little note popped out of the bag. Picking it up, Snake began to read the note. The note read:

 _Spirit Pouches are used to store your collected Spirits. What are Spirits, you may ask? Spirits are people or things that have lost a corporeal form. One of the few exceptions to this rule are fighters in the Super Smash Brothers tournament, but alternate forms of said fighters are capable of being turned into a Spirit. When a Spirit finds a vessel it can possess, it takes the body of said vessel and uses it as its own. However, the Spirit takes over as the dominant personality in the body, so any traits it may possess are emulated through the host's body. To remove a Spirit from its host, one must simply beat the tar out of the vessel and store the Spirit into this pouch to contain it. The goal for a Spirit is..._

The note was torn off around there. Snake simply stuffed the note into his pocket, gave the bag to Kirby, and the two of them jumped through a small vortex that had opened up in the meantime.

* * *

 ** _Back on the mountain..._**

* * *

Snake and Kirby continued the descent down the mountain, and encountered yet another little ball of light. The ball of light began to glow and produced a small vacuum, which sucked the two of them in.

* * *

 _ **Yoshi's Island...**_

* * *

As both Snake and Kirby fell on the ground, they looked up to see a formation of tiny Yoshis, consisting of brown, blue, yellow, red, purple, black, green, cyan, and pink versions of the omnivorous dinosaur. The brown one charged at Snake, but he sent it flying with a kick to his front. Snake then planted a land mine, and Kirby grabbed the red Yoshi, which spat out a ball of fire that was easily dodged, and suplexed it into the mine, which sent the Yoshi careening into the sky. The yellow one shrouded itself in electricity and charged at Snake, managing to land a hit, but Snake grabbed the Yoshi, stuck a C4 on it, and detonated the C4, sending that Yoshi off into the hills. The blue Yoshi fired off a massive torrent of water, and the cyan Yoshi froze the water as it washed around Kirby and Snake, trapping the two inside skintight prisons of ice. The remaining Yoshis began to beat away at the frozen bodies in the ice, at least until the cyan one had accidentally broken open the ice blocking Kirby's mouth, which allowed for the pink marshmallow to swallow it and spit it off the platform.

After the Yoshis had damaged Snake's ice casing, the rest of it began to crack as Snake's body began to vibrate, who chucked the blue one off the platform and shot it with his Nikita missile launcher, sending it away. The black one tried Hypnosis on Kirby, who immediately fell asleep, and Snake turned his attention to the pink Yoshi, who was charging up a blast of light energy. Snake split kicked the pink and black Yoshis into the lithosphere. The purple and green ones, now the only ones left, began a coordinated effort to take down the mercenary. The purple one telekinetically held Snake in the air while the green one shot razor-sharp leaves that scratched his face. However, neither Yoshi noticed that Kirby had woken up, and Kirby blasted the purple one with a flurry of kicks before smacking the green one away with Hammer Flip. Snake then pulled out a tranquilizer pistol and shot the purple Yoshi, motioning for Kirby to finish the job. The marshmallow obliged, performing a backflip kick that sent that last Yoshi flying, but not before it dropped a small orb. Eight other orbs joined with the one in the center, forming a rather large Spirit Orb with an image of a small brown canine surrounded by eight other, more colorful mammals. Kirby put that Spirit into the bag, and the two were pulled away from Yoshi's Island by a wormhole that spawned behind them.

* * *

 _ **Back to the mountain...**_

* * *

Snake and Kirby had finally reached the bottom of the mountain, and were right about to continue before a blue light appeared in their path. The light showed an image in the middle, of a lone man standing on the Final Destination, which had received a major visual upgrade since the last time Snake saw it. The man standing on the platform was...

"...Mario."

* * *

 **Before people try and lynch me for including the Black Yoshi palette swap and Snake's land mine and tranquilizer, this is a more pragmatic adaptation of Smash. The Eevee Spirit in this one received a bit of an upgrade. The split kick is Snake's up tilt (yep, the one _Brawl_ gave a stupidly disjointed hitbox to).**

 **Brown Yoshi (yes, this was a thing) - Eevee**

 **Blue Yoshi - Vaporeon**

 **Yellow Yoshi - Jolteon**

 **Red Yoshi - Flareon**

 **Purple Yoshi - Espeon**

 **Black Yoshi - Umbreon**

 **Green Yoshi - Leafeon**

 **Cyan Yoshi - Glaceon**

 **Pink Yoshi - Sylveon**

 **Also, a small announcement: This and the next chapter will be the final ones until after December 7th, as I'll need to play through the World of Light to properly tell the story. To tide over readers, I WILL be releasing a series of SSBU oneshots set in the same AU as my first Smash story (so yep, Geno, Isaac, Matthew, and Banjo).**


	3. Alchemical Power-Up

**This is a pragmatic approach to the Super Smash Bros. series, meaning that the characters will be able to use moves they lost in previous games.**

* * *

 ** _At the base of the mountain..._**

* * *

The man looked at Snake, and said, _"Took you that long to recognize him, huh?"_ in a voice that clearly did not belong to the plumber.

Snake grunted back, "Maybe it'd be easier if I didn't just fight an impostor of you..."

Mario laughed, and said, _"If you wish to receive the body, then you must best me in a match of Smash."_

Snake resisted the urge to smile at that, saying, "Just like it was four years ago..."

Sneering, Mario said, _"_ He's _gotten better in the four years that went by. And what did you do? You aged to the point where you looked like a geriatric old man whose days were already running out, and had your insides completely toasted by radiation. What is left of the legendary soldier of fortune that once struck fear and awe into the hearts of many? A broken, empty shell of a man. Face it, David. You're just not up to snuff. Surrender now, and maybe you'll be enlisted into the service of the Radiant One. I already know Hal and Sunny are working for him..."_

The mention of his best friend and adopted daughter caused Snake's stoic mask to burn away, now replaced with a look of pure anger. Glaring at Mario, or rather what was possessing the man's body, he growled, "You're on. Kirby, let's- ungh!"

Both Snake and Kirby had smacked into an invisible wall, and Mario stood at the other side, tauntingly wagging his finger, before saying, _"Ah-ah-ah! Only_ one _of you is allowed to come face me. So, who'll it be, you or the little marshmallow?"_

Snake told Kirby to watch from outside the vortex, and the puffball obliged, resulting in Snake being able to walk past the barrier. Mario cackled, _"Now let us fight!"_

Mario lunged right at Snake, and kicked the mercenary in the shins while also sliding under and past him, before turning around and unleashing a mighty blast of fire from his palm, which Snake barely managed to dodge. Wasting no time, Snake pulled out the big guns, namely his RPG-7, and took a shot at the plumber. Mario pulled out his Cape and swung it at the missile, and reflected it back at Snake, who ducked it as it sailed off into the void. After Mario successfully turned around Snake's Nikita, Snake pulled out a grenade, cooked it for a bit, and then threw it at Mario, who caught it.

 _"Really, a hand grena-"_

The grenade blew up in his face before he could throw it back at Snake. The mercenary seized an opportunity to pummel the plumber, who unwittingly threw up his shield, which turned out to be a bad decision, as Snake continued to hammer away at the shield until it broke, stunning Mario. Snake then slapped a C4 onto Mario's back and planted a land mine right under the plumber's feet. Snake stepped away as the plumber regained his senses, only to be blown sky high by the land mine. Snake then detonated the C4, juggling Mario even higher.

Snake looked up, and saw Mario's body slowly begin to fall down, gradually speeding up as it came closer to the ground. Mario's body landed with a resounding thud, before it started to twitch and convulse as whatever was possessing his body left, before laying still. Snake, in stark contrast to his previous roughness, scooped up the body in a ginger fashion before walking out the portal.

Kirby, having grown anxious waiting for Snake, hopped for joy when he saw the mercenary. Snake held a finger up to his mouth, signaling for the infant to remain silent while they waited for Mario to wake up.

* * *

 _ **Three hours later...**_

* * *

Mario opened his eyes, groaning as he sat up. The last thing he had remembered before everything had gone black again was hitting the ground really, really, hard. After dusting off his soot-covered overalls, Snake walked up to him and said, "Sorry about earlier. Turns out, the best way to get a demon outta someone is to smack them really, really hard, apparently."

Jerking his thumb to the right, he said, "Kirby's sleeping by the fire. Join him if you want to."

Mario instead asked, "Snake, what-a happened?"

Snake grunted, "That whole freak light show earlier wiped out everyone but Kirby and I. You're the first person we've found so far."

Mario's mood had considerably darkened. So he really did have no way of finding out whether his brother or the Princess were okay...

Before heading to the campfire, Mario pointed to a sign he had seen earlier and asked, "Snake, is-a this important?"

Snake looked at the sign, which read:

 **World of Light**

 **Population: 76 Fighters**

* * *

The next morning, Mario, Snake, and Kirby walked off to what appeared to be a large stadium before they were intercepted by a ball of light, which pulled Mario in despite Snake and Kirby's protests.

* * *

 _ **Great Plateau Tower...**_

* * *

Mario, having faceplanted on the ground, looked up, and what he saw made his mouth drop. R.O.B was standing there, designed in an ornate pattern with a single focusing eye above his visor. The R.O.B stoically looked at Mario, before focusing a laser onto him.

Mario blanched, and rolled out of R.O.B's line of fire right as the robot fired its laser, which was unusually blue instead of the red that R.O.B's lasers were known for. Above them, the roof of the tower trembled from the impact of the laser beam.

R.O.B caught Mario with a Gyro before firing another laser beam. This time, however, Mario managed to reflect it back at the robot. As R.O.B stumbled away from the explosion, the roof started to crack. Mario, realizing that this R.O.B was not as mobile as the one he had known, stood right in the line of fire, Cape at the ready. R.O.B fired, and Mario swung the cape up _towards_ the ceiling, reflecting the laser into the ceiling, and causing it to fall apart. Mario immediately got out from under there, but the R.O.B was not fast enough, and was promptly buried under a pile of rubble. Mario pulled out his Ultra Hammer, waiting to hit the R.O.B in case it burst out, but there was no motion underneath the large pile of rocks. After a rather bright glow from under the rock, a small orb floated out and into Mario's hand. Looking back, he saw Snake and Kirby beckoning for him to get out of there.

The plumber obliged.

* * *

 _ **The Stadium of Champions...**_

* * *

As Mario, Snake, and Kirby entered the stadium, they saw a brutal duel going on in the arena on the floor. There was a large, armored brute fighting a young man with a sword. The man raised his hands, and boulders rained on the armored man, who fruitlessly attempted to block them as the smaller man rushed in and slashed across his armor, also summoning a large sword from out of nowhere which drove the armored fiend into the ground.

With his opponent finished, Isaac soaked in the cheers and applause, the little voice in the back of his head nagging at him to keep fighting.

 _"Anyone else want to step up to the plate?"_

Isaac heard a voice cry out, "You think you can-a take on the three of us?"

The Adept, or rather, his body, turned around to see Mario, Snake, and Kirby.

 _"I've seen better things than you go down by this Gaia Blade. What makes you think that this'll be challenging?"_

Snake gruffly replied, "All three of us. Whichever side yields first loses. If you win, you leave that body. If you win, we join the service of this Radiant One that everyone's talking about."

 _"Now_ that's _an offer! Very well then, step in!"_

The trio of Smashers stepped into the arena. With a wave of the Adept's sword, the fight was on.

Isaac unleashed a Spiral Assault, sending a volley of tornadoes after Mario, Snake, and Kirby. Snake, after dodging the tornado, activated his OctoCamo, disappearing into thin air. Mario jumped at Isaac, a Firebrand readied in his right hand, but Isaac put all of his Djinn save for the Mercury-aligned ones on standby, and unleashed a chilling wind which snuffed out the fire in Mario's hand. Now setting his Venus Djinn along with the Mercury Djinn, Isaac unleashed a Wild Growth under the plumber, entangling him in massive vines.

Isaac then felt a hard kick in his side, and whirled around to face his assailant, only to find no one there. Another hard kick in the ribs made him put the Mercury Djinn on standby and set everything else with the Venus Djinn. He then unleashed a Carpet Bomb around him, setting off a large number of land mines, and then launched a Thunderclap at Kirby, who barely dodged. Isaac then fired a Magma Storm towards the tangle of Wild Growth Mario was buried in, burning away the overgrowth. He was right about to perform a Skull Splitter on a disoriented Kirby, only to get blasted across the arena by a sudden explosion.

Snake, holding his RPG-7, smirked and blew the smoking barrel.

Isaac unleashed the Titan Blade at where Snake was standing, and the stealth operative rolled out of the way and pulled out his Nikita. As Isaac slashed the missile out of the air, his back armor cracked as Mario swung the Ultra Hammer at him. As Isaac stumbled, Snake caught him in a chokehold and tossed him backwards, setting off a land mine. As Isaac was launched into the air, Kirby drill kicked him back down into the ground.

As Isaac looked up, he saw Mario with his Ultra Hammer, Snake readying a C4, and Kirby holding a large sword in his nub of a hand, and immediately understood that it was time to fold.

 _"I… yield."_

Isaac's eyes returned to their usual color of blue, and he collapsed in the sand.


	4. The Master of Two Dimensions Awakens

**4 Smashers stand against the light…**

 **Also, I should've said I'd be avoiding spoiler-related stuff until after December 7th, because this story could go on for a while without spoiling anything too major.**

* * *

 _ **The Stadium of Champions…**_

* * *

As nighttime settled upon the World of Light, Snake, Mario, and Kirby were attempting to help Isaac get back up to speed regarding the current situation.

"So… everyone else is just gone?"

Snake, Kirby, and Mario all nodded sadly. Isaac, in turn, looked away from the trio and up towards the sky, admiring the beautiful constellations that littered the dark of the night to take his mind off that fact. Before he could get too absorbed into the nighttime view, however, startled noises from Kirby snapped him out of his stupor.

Purple, shadowy insects swarmed the ground around them, and began to form a large shape, as Snake grumbled, "I thought that they said those things were gone…"

As the Shadow Bugs finally assumed their completed form, the last of the bugs melted away to reveal Duon.

Mario, Kirby, and Isaac, who had never seen this robotic monstrosity before, not even in Subspace, all squawked in alarm, while Snake, who _had_ fought Duon on the Halberd, simply pulled out his grenade launcher, saying, "It's showtime!"

Duon switched to the blue half and slashed at Isaac, who narrowly dodged, only to get caught by a energy burst from Duon's pink side. Snake then launched a grenade at the robot, which got lodged in one of its servo motors. When the grenade detonated, Kirby inhaled one of the pink Duon's energy blasts to become Beam Kirby, and started waving his wand in arcs, sending out orbs of energy at Duon. Duon then felt a massive burst of fire on its other side, and attempted to rotate, but failed due to one of its servo motors being completely fried. Mario slid under Duon's body and promptly began hammering away at its wheels, dodging any slashes that the blue side tried to tag him with. Isaac then cast Wild Growth on the robot, the numerous vines snaking into the robot's mechanisms and beginning to slowly destroy crucial parts of the robot. As Duon twitched and recoiled from the sheer agony of the vines slowly killing it from the inside, Isaac gave a tight squeeze, destroying the robot's main CPU, and shutting Duon down for good. As the robot shorted, the Shadow Bugs faded away to reveal Mr. Game & Watch inside, apparently unconscious.

The group waited for Mr. Game & Watch to wake up, and when the two dimensional amalgamation woke up, he regarded the four of them with a friendly wave, letting out a series of beeps in Morse code that Snake translated as, "What happened?"

Mario explained, "Unfortunately, it-a turns out that the Shadow Bugs inside you were not-a completely gone. We-a fought that-a robot that you apparently transformed into on-a Meta Knight's ship."

Game & Watch appeared to be horrified by this, as during the transition from the third to the fourth tournament, he had underwent a series of therapy sessions with Master Hand regarding morality because of his lack of understanding of right and wrong that allowed for Tabuu to use his body for the creation of Shadow Bugs. He then beeped out, "How did they come back? I thought that the process had worked..."

Snake grunted, "Maybe the hand's treatment wasn't perfect..."

Game & Watch hung his head in shame, until Mario extended a hand out to him, saying, "Come on. What's done is-a done. All that-a we can do now is to try-a and get everyone back."

Mr. Game & Watch reluctantly took the plumber's hand, and the five of them went to the stadium's left exit.

* * *

 _ **Outside the Stadium of Champions...**_

* * *

As the group stepped out of the stadium, they heard a deafening crack. The group looked back to see a Master Hand sealing off the exits they didn't take by snapping its fingers. The group of Smashers pushed forwards, only to be met by a Spirit Orb floating in the distance. Going closer to investigate, Isaac let out a startled yelp as he was pulled inside.

* * *

 _ **Super Mario Maker...**_

* * *

As Isaac landed on the grass, he pulled out his Gaia Blade, ready for a potential threat, only for Wario to shoulder charge him from behind. Groaning as he massaged his back, Isaac looked up to see a formation of Warios in varying outfits, all preparing to tackle him. Sighing, Isaac raised his sword, and the Wario formation began a full on sprint towards the Adept.

Isaac jumped onto the platform above him, sighing in relief as the team of Warios charged underneath. Before he could celebrate, the four Warios in the back turned around, jumped onto Isaac's platform, and promptly shoved him off. Gritting his teeth, the Venus Adept switched his Djinn around until he had achieved the Jupiter Druid class, and unleashed crackling bolts of lightning from his free hand, electrocuting the formation of Warios standing on the platform. Isaac then followed up by unleashing a Sky Diver onto those four Warios, sending them flying. Isaac then shifted his Djinn and equipped his Tomegathericon, turning his class into the Necromage.

The Warios turned around and began to charge at Isaac, and Isaac cast a Dire Inferno, which caused the Warios to break formation to go around the massive wall of hellfire that was summoned. Isaac then rushed in, grabbed a straggler, kicked him up into the air, and then sent him downwards into the abyss with an overhead slash. Isaac then switched Djinn to the War Adept class, and snapped his fingers, casting a very erratic Thunder Mine which barreled into three other Warios, bringing the number of the horde down to eight.

As the remaining Warios charged, the ground began to glow underneath their feet, and then the Grand Gaia that Isaac had been charging the entire fight erupted, sending the Warios flying along with partially melted earth from the mantle. When the chaos had ended Isaac found himself staring at the lone surviving Wario, who was decked out in his classic purple and yellow outfit. This Wario, looking around to find his entire pack gone, rolled up his sleeves and charged at Isaac, who readied his sword due to him depleting most of his Psynergy. However, instead of tackling him, the Wario grabbed Isaac and began to violently shake him down for cash, only to get hit by the hilt of Isaac's sword. As Wario stumbled backwards, clutching his nose, Isaac, disoriented by the violent shaking, swung his sword in a clumsy arc, allowing for Wario to slap and knock him to the ground, before winding up for a massive backhanded punch. Isaac rolled away, changed his Djinn to achieve the Chaos Lord class, and used the last of his Psynergy to cast Supernova on Wario.

When the smoke from the explosion had faded, Isaac looked over to see Wario, on fire, preparing to charge like an enraged bull, which the possessed treasure hunter did. Isaac dodged, and the last Wario hurtled off into the abyss, releasing a Spirit Orb, which was soon joined by 15 other Spirit Orbs to form a large one. Feeling a slight tug on his scarf, Isaac yelped as he was yanked out of there by Snake.

* * *

 _ **Back in the World of Light...**_

* * *

As Isaac tumbled onto the ground, Mr. Game & Watch ran over, holding one of Snake's medkits. As Isaac refused medical treatment (as Mario insisted that his cousin could patch him up once they found him), Kirby took the Spirit Orb of the Chargin' Chuck Corps that Isaac dropped, and promptly put it in the Spirit Pouch.

Meanwhile, Snake had gone to talk to Mario regarding what had happened in the three years he had been gone.

"...Metal Gears? Those-a giant robots on Shadow Moses? I-a thought that-a Master Hand destroyed them after the-a Subspace incident!"

Snake grimly nodded, saying, "There's a chance that they may be somewhere in this realm."

After a pause, Snake asked, "You said that guy that looked like you in a doctor's outfit was your cousin?"

Mario nodded, and told him all about Dr. Stefano Mario...

* * *

 _Mario looked around anxiously for anymore newcomers, as while seeing Peach was a pleasant surprise, Bowser, the Pokémon called Mewtwo, and especially that Ganondorf guy unnerved him, and he had no idea how to converse with the rest, as the two kids that called themselves the Ice Climbers had gone to talk to Ness, Marth was in his own conversation with Roy, and he had no idea as to how to converse with Mr. Game & Watch or Pichu._

 _Before Mario could get up and go get some food, however, he felt someone tap his shoulder. Expecting it to be Luigi, he yelped in surprise when it turned out to be someone who looked like him in a doctor's coat._

 _"Hey, cugino, calm down!"_

 _Mario, having not heard that term in five years, turned around to see that it was indeed his cousin._

 _"Stefano, it's-a so good to see you! How's that doctorate of yours coming along?"_

 _"Oh, I finished it."_

 _"That's-a great! Does that-a mean you're the in-house doctor in-a case something goes wrong?"_

 _"Actually..."_

 _Stefano pulled out an envelope just like the one Mario had received for the tournament, and said, "I'm working double duty."_

 _Mario gave his cousin a fist bump, and excitedly ran off to tell Luigi the news, while Stefano watched his little cousin run towards Luigi with a smile on his face..._

* * *

 **So yeah, not every treatment is perfect, which is why G &W still has Shadow Bugs inside him, but this time, they were coerced out of his unconscious body, as Galeem felt that he was too low-priority to be a Puppet Fighter. And yes, that means G&W was sort of acting like a battery for Duon once again.**

 **I decided to go the full nine yards with the Chargin' Chuck Spirit, and turned it into the Chargin' Chuck Corps from _Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam_** **.**

 **Lastly, I went with sheer coincidence regarding Dr. Mario's identity.**


	5. An Axe to Grind

**_World of Light..._**

* * *

Mario finished, "...so-a yeah, Dr. Mario's my cousin."

Snake was about to fish his pockets for a cigarette, but stopped after he remembered the conversation he and Big Boss had shortly after Major Zero died. Snake then stood up and walked to their campsite, Mario following close behind.

The next morning, the group of five set off from their campsite, only for them to be caught in a net snare, which was then hoisted up into the sky.

* * *

 _ **On the Blade...**_

* * *

"Hey! The boss said that these guys were important! Watch... it..."

Axem Red looked inside the net and saw a very familiar hat on a very familiar person, and his eyes narrowed.

"Change of plans, it's payback time."

* * *

Mario was the first to awaken, being prodded by a pointy stick.

"Hey! Watch it!"

Mario turned around to face his assailant, and his jaw dropped at the sight of the Axem Rangers. Axem Red smirked, and said, "Missed us, Red?"

When Mario didn't say anything, Axem Black drawled, "You. Your four friends. At the place we last battled."

Axem Pink continued, "We'll beat you this time!"

Finally, Axem Green finished with, "Come on, guys, chop-chop!"

Everyone smacked Axem Green on the back of the head for the awful joke, and the Axem Rangers left for the top deck. Mario then ran back to his shared cell, and urged Isaac and Snake to wake up.

Both of them grumbled, "What is it, Mario?"

"I know where we-a are, and what'll happen to us if-a we don't. Get Kirby and Mr. Game & Watch-a too."

Snake and Isaac ran back to get the two, and Mario began to practice some moves he hadn't used in a long time.

* * *

 _ **Top deck of the Blade...**_

* * *

The Axem Rangers all stood at the deck, impatiently tapping their watches.

"Man, wonder what happened to Bouncy Red and his friends..."

"Oh, shut up, Yellow. Bouncy Red'll probably answer, but his new friends are probably not as good as the ones from 13 years ago."

A voice interrupted Axem Red, saying, "So, it's a fight you want then?"

Axem Red turned around to see a man in a stealth suit holding a grenade. Behind him, a blonde swordsman, a pink ball, a short, shadowed man who moved erratically, and 'ol Bouncy Red himself stepped onto the deck.

Kirby held one of the halberds he had stolen from the storage bay, and pointed it at the Rangers threateningly. Isaac unsheathed his sword, and began shuffling Djinn to the Paladin class. Mr. Game & Watch brandished two hammers, and Mario's hands began to smolder. Snake looked at the Axem Rangers, and said, "What'll it be, Power Rangers?"

Incensed by the insult, the Axem Rangers brandished their own halberds and began their motto.

"We fight for evil!"

"We live for disorder!"

"We like what we do!"

"We struggle for chaos!"

"We are..."

"THE AXEM RANGERS!"

And with that war cry, the fight was on.

* * *

Snake began the fight by sliding under Axem Black's thrown halberd and throwing his cooked grenade at Axem Green, who dodged the projectile and got out of the way of the ensuing explosion. Axem Red's halberd collided with Mario's Ultra Hammer, and Red grinned, saying, "Not bad, Red. But watch this!"

Axem Red then clicked a button on his halberd, and the blade burst into flames. He won the lock-up, and leaped up into the air, yelling, "Your game's over, Jumpman!"

Mario barely got out of the way of the blade, igniting his own fists after putting away his Ultra Hammer, and then began to fight Axem Red one on one.

Behind them, land mines were going off at an extraordinary rate as Kirby, proving he had learned how to use an axe from his battle with the possessed Dedede a little over three years ago, was pressuring Axem Pink into stepping on the various land mines Snake had been planting while using his OctoCamo, while she was hollering, "This is NOT how to treat a lady!"

Right before Kirby could land a solid blow, however, a stray bomb tossed by Axem Black had blown him away. Axem Pink gave a thumbs up in his direction, and cast Mega Recover on herself. Before Axem Black could unleash his Spritz Bomb, he was caught in a chokehold by Snake, who was still using the OctoCamo. Snake suplexed Axem Black into the air, only to be caught by a lucky Meteor Blast by Axem Green before he could follow up. Isaac, meanwhile, having subdued Axem Yellow with a powerful Nettle, switched classes to the Mercury Druid, and cast a particularly hot Froth Spiral.

Axem Green, having seen the massive mix of water and steam, yelled, "Water Blast coming in at 12 o'clock!"

The Axem Rangers took that as a cue to steer clear. Once the water and steam were gone, the Axem Rangers continued their assault. In the midst of the chaos, no one noticed Mr. Game & Watch stealthily take out Axem Yellow by torching the Nettle that he was trapped in.

Mario had kicked the flaming halberd out of Axem Red's hands, and jumped high into the air, poised for a massive punch downwards, but was blown out of the air and onto the deck by Axem Black's Spritz Bomb. Kirby had been hit by a Meteor Blast by Axem Green, and then was mushroomized by Axem Pink's Petal Blast, and Snake and Isaac had received a heavy beating from Axem Black and his sheer amount of explosives.

The Axem Rangers, even Yellow, who had crawled out of the burning overgrowth, yet was unable to find his assailant, stood in front of the downed Smashers. Red, wasting no time, yelled, "Ready the Breaker Beam!"

A small head rose out of the Blade, and the Axem Rangers yelled, "Force Beam energized! Maximum charge! NOW! Fire the Breaker!"

The head on the Blade began charging a massive ball of energy... but promptly short-circuited and died.

As the Axem Rangers stared in confusion, Axem Pink shrieked as she was launched into the cargo bay with an electrified blast. Axem Green yelped in alarm as his rear was suddenly lit on fire, and Axem Yellow got headbutted so hard that his armor cracked, taking him down for good. Axem Red and Axem Black looked around in alarm for the invisible assailant, only for Axem Black to get curled in the tentacles of the Octopus and thrown into the cargo bay. Axem Red nervously yelled, "Wh-who are you? Show yourself!"

Axem Red was promptly struck by a large hammer, and was knocked into the cargo bay with Axem Black and Axem Pink. The invisible terror then revealed himself to be Mr. Game & Watch, who had camouflaged himself by simply shifting dimensions. Game & Watch ran to the prone Smashers, urgently trying to get them up. Mario, upon rising, gave Game & Watch a high five, Isaac shook the diminutive man's hand, and Snake patted him on the head, while holding the mushroom that was Kirby. On cue, the mushroom turned back into Kirby, who hugged Mr. Game & Watch. Game & Watch pointed into the lower deck, and motioned for Snake to fire his Nikita. Snake obliged, and fired the Nikita missile into the lower deck.

* * *

The missile, guided by Snake, cruised into the engine room and blew it up.

As the ship was rocked by explosions, Snake yelled, "If you don't have a reliable way of getting to the ground, grab onto Kirby!"

Mario put on his Cape and began descending to the ground, Mr. Game & Watch parachuted, Snake floated down on his Cypher, and Isaac held onto Kirby for dear life as behind them, the Blade, smoke pouring out of it, descended into a forest, sending up a large amount of birds when it crashed.

* * *

 _ **Unknown location...**_

* * *

The five of them landed in a grassy area, where they ran into a Spirit Orb, which promptly sucked in Mr. Game & Watch.

* * *

 _ **Garden of Hope...**_

* * *

Mr. Game & Watch crashed onto the floor, which immediately started wearing away at his strength. In front of him was a gigantic Ivysaur, which started to absorb light while staying off the ground as much as it could. Jumping up, Game & Watch began to drop bombs onto the Ivysaur, which started dodging. When Game & Watch landed on a platform, Ivysaur took the opportunity to spit a Sludge Bomb at him, which Mr. Game & Watch dodged by shifting dimensions. As Ivysaur looked around in confusion, Mr. Game & Watch snuck up behind it and used his Judge attack, scoring a 9, which launched Ivysaur off into the distance. A Spirit Orb floated into Game & Watch's hands, and he was inhaled up by Kirby.

* * *

 ** _The Forest..._**

* * *

The Spirit Orb floated out of Mr. Game & Watch's hands and into the Spirit Pouch, and the five of them spent the night sharing stories, while unknown to them, a Puppet Fighter sat in the distance listening. Once the fire died down, the possessed Diddy Kong leaped from his hiding place and onto Snake.

* * *

 **While Smashers are joining at a rather quick rate, it's sort of like how Mr. Sakurai said the unlocking process would go.**

 **Little Axem Rangers boss fight, because I say screw it, I'm going to see how many bosses I can fit in here, just because of the sheer potential that it has in this story. (aside from the obvious like Dracula and Rathalos)**

 **Also, thank goodness for 9s.**


	6. Battle in the Base

**After besting the Axem Rangers and getting blown off the Blade, our heroes managed to reclaim the Venusaur Spirit, but now they've been attacked by a Puppet Fighter.**

* * *

 _ **The Forest...**_

* * *

Snake yelled in aggravation as a monkey leaped onto him and started tugging at his hair and slapping his face. Grabbing its tail in irritation, he lifted up the monkey and slammed him into the ground. Diddy Kong got back up, and tried an overhead swing at Snake, only to be caught in a chokehold by the mercenary, who then suplexed him into a tree, finally knocking the monkey unconscious. As Snake dusted himself off, he grabbed Diddy and opened his eyelids, revealing that his eyes had gone back to their usual black. Carrying the little Kong in a fireman's carry, Snake walked back to the camp, as their little scuffle had taken them into the forest.

The next morning, Diddy Kong awoke, clutching his head from where he was hit the night before. Taking in his surroundings, he noticed that Mario and Kirby were coming over to him, and the two of them hoisted him up, Mario patting Diddy on the back.

"Diddy, it's-a good to see you again! Do you... know what-a happened to Donkey Kong?"

Diddy shook his head, remembering that the last time he had seen his uncle, he was busy fighting King K. Rool before the light had gotten the both of them. Ripping out some bark from a nearby tree, he asked for a writing instrument, which Snake provided by giving him a pocket knife. Diddy carved out his answer in the wood, which said, "Nope, not since the Craggy Outlook. Have you found anyone else?"

"Well, we've found Mr. Game & Watch and Isaac. That good enough?"

On cue, Isaac and Mr. Game & Watch ran over and waved. Diddy vigorously shook both of their hands, and then ripped out more pieces of bark. Using one of the pieces, he wrote on there, "Can I keep the knife?"

Snake shrugged, and said, "Yeah, sure."

Diddy clapped enthusiastically and then ran off to rip out even more pieces of bark.

* * *

While the group was navigating their way out of the forest, they were intercepted by a Spirit Orb, which swept in Diddy and Mario.

* * *

 _ **Onett...**_

* * *

As Diddy and Mario got up to their feet, they saw Ness inside the drugstore holding a telephone. Before they could approach him, however, they were blown away by a grenade which came from out of nowhere. Ness then hung up the phone and walked outside, revealing that his eyes were red instead of their usual black. Behind him, a voice, coming from no one in particular, said, _"Doing alright, son?"_

Ness gave an affirmative nod, and the voice said, _"Good! Just remember to take a break if you feel tired, I'll handle these two myself if that's the case."_

Mario rose first, and saw a missile that looked exactly like Snake's Nikita being fired right at him. Swinging his Cape at the missile, he reflected it back. The voice said, _"Not bad, but you'll have to do better than that to best me or my son."_

As soon as the voice stopped, Mario felt a knee right in his gut, and was blasted into a window of a nearby house. Diddy Kong, having hidden on the roof of the drugstore, jumped onto Ness and began biting, kicking, and scratching him.

 _"Hey! You there! What're you doing to my kid?"_

Diddy saw a Nikita appear out of nowhere, and jumped off Ness right as the missile fired. The missile struck Ness, sending him flying off into the distance.

"What... have I done?"

The voice's tone took on one of remorse before it said, _"I've been away from home for five years because of the Eagleland military. I haven't seen my son for five years... He was only seven last I saw him, and I just wish I could've spent more time with him and Tracy. Guess I'm a poor excuse for a father, aren't I? I missed his entire journey to save the world because of this."_

Looking up at the two, the invisible Snake said, _"I yield. Ness... I'll see you on the other side."_

A C4 appeared out of thin air and instantly detonated, and in the place of the invisible Snake, a Spirit Orb floated, joined by a smaller one from out in the distance.

Mario silently took the ball of light, and the two of them were pulled out of there by an unknown force.

* * *

Mario and Diddy Kong tumbled out of the Spirit Orb that swallowed them, and the Spirit that contained Ness' father (contained in the outline of the telephone that was in Ness' room in the Mansion) vanished into the bag. Isaac put the bag on his belt, and the six of them continued out of the forest, and wound up facing a large, abandoned research facility with a large amount of destroyed Gekkos littering the entrance. Before the group set foot into the base, however, they were intercepted by yet another Spirit Orb, which caught Isaac, Snake, and Mr. Game & Watch.

* * *

 _ **Shadow Moses Island...**_

* * *

Mr. Game & Watch and Snake recognized the abandoned facility, and the two of them immediately hid in the shadows to avoid the searchlights that were currently scanning the platform the three of them were standing on. Isaac, however, was not able to get out of the way in time, and a large exclamation point appeared above his head before the wall behind him erupted, the restored Metal Gear REX emitting a loud screech as it saw its next target. On its back, two metallic Robot Operating Buddies holding Bob-ombs jumped off and began charging their lasers. Underneath, Mr. Game & Watch saw a figure that looked suspiciously like Dr. Mario run off into the darkness and silence of the night.

Before Game & Watch ran off to pursue him, Snake grabbed the flat man by the head, saying, "We can worry about that later. That Metal Gear's our priority now."

But as Snake and Mr. Game & Watch got up to where Isaac was, Metal Gear REX had fled the scene, and Isaac was currently fending off the two robots with a blast of Gaia. Mr. Game & Watch morphed into a diminutive thief and pulled out a large stick that was currently on fire, and Snake grabbed one of the ROBs by the neck and started to try and rip off the head with his bare hands.

The other ROB swung around, before tossing his Bob-omb right at Snake, but Mr. Game & Watch held out a bucket which absorbed the bomb's explosion and filled it up. Snake watched as Mr. Game & Watch drenched the ROBs in oil before lighting them on fire, while Isaac assisted by switching to the Acrobat class and letting loose with a Fiery Juggle, continuing until the ROBs had been completely melted down, yielding two Spirit Orbs that merged into one. Inside it, Snake could see the outline of Metal Gear REX, but before he could react, the three of them were pulled up and out by Diddy Kong.

* * *

Isaac, having caught the Spirit Orb, placed it in the pouch, and the six of them began to explore the ruined Shadow Moses base, currently in the same sorry state it was in after the Guns of the Patriots incident, where Snake and Liquid Ocelot had duked it out in Metal Gear REX and Metal Gear RAY, but oddly, the two robots were nowhere to be found. Snake found the closest vent, and motioned for the group to enter the base that way. Snake found a nearby vent covering, and broke it, allowing the group to properly explore the base once they had jumped down.

After a while, the group came across Cloud and Red, the two of them clearly not themselves. Red in particular had a look in his eyes that reminded Snake of Sunny whenever she got upset. Cloud looked at the six of them before chuckling, _"Well, look who we have here. The plumber and his friends. How... touching. I'm impressed that you've managed to stand against the Radiant One for this long, to be quite honest."_

Cloud then unsheathed his Buster Sword and pointed it at the two, saying, _"Your journey ends here."_

Red, having been silent for the entirety of Cloud's speech, said, _"The sooner that pesky hand that you serve is eradicated, the sooner we will have control over the world. His creativity and ability to give life to these heroes and villains that we possess is the only thing that stops us from simply taking over. We get rid of the hand for good, and your stories come to an end. Speaking of, where is Master Hand?"_

Mario shrugged, and Cloud charged at the group while Red sent out his Squirtle, which was also possessed. Kirby jumped out of the way of a Cross Slash, and Cloud began to charge his Limit. Squirtle fired a Dragon Pulse at the group, and Mr. Game & Watch pulled out his trusty bucket, which absorbed the Dragon Pulse. Red then sent out Ivysaur and Charizard, and Ivysaur began charging a Solar Beam while Charizard took to the skies and Mega Evolved, due to Red having been given a Mega Stone and Charizard still possessing the Charizardite X from the fourth tournament.

Charizard plunged down, aiming straight for Diddy Kong with a devastating Dragon Claw, which the monkey narrowly avoided. Mario jumped off one of the walls of the hangar, and socked Charizard right in the mouth, but that only seemed to enrage the burly Fire-Dragon type, and he grabbed Mario and performed a Seismic Toss on him, sending him into the ground. Mr. Game & Watch, having been catapulted into the air and now descending via parachute, pulled out a large key and dropped it right on Charizard, who then managed to regain altitude after a moment of shock. Ivysaur then let loose with its Solar Beam, which Game & Watch barely avoided. Before Ivysaur could follow up with a Sludge Bomb, an explosion knocked her off her legs, and Snake ran over and slapped a C4 on her underbelly. Ivysaur then fired a Bullet Seed at Snake and managed to knock the detonator out of his hands. As Snake lunged for it, Ivysaur snared his legs with a Vine Whip and hoisted him up into the air.

Cloud, meanwhile, had gotten into a weapon lock-up with Mario's Ultra Hammer, and Mario charged a fireball in his hand before launching it at Cloud, who dodged and retaliated with Blizzaga, freezing Mario in a block of ice. Before he could follow up with Doom, Kirby charged through the ice with his Burning attack, thawing Mario and barreling into Cloud. Slamming the Buster Sword into the ground to halt his momentum, Cloud released the Meteorain he had been saving throughout the match, and meteors rained in the abandoned hangar of Metal Gear REX. Charizard added to the maelstrom of meteors raining in the base through using Flame Burst, and the whole battle had turned into a game of "dodge the fireball."

As Ivysaur was trying to dodge, she got hit right in the bulb by a meteor, and in agony, unwittingly released Snake from her clutches. Snake got up and snagged the detonator off the floor, but before he could detonate it, he was rammed head on by Squirtle, causing him to drop the detonator again. Growling in frustration, Snake pulled out his RPG-7 and blasted Squirtle with it, sending the Tiny Turtle Pokémon flying into the wall. Before he could retaliate, a large stomp on his shell from Mario knocked him out cold, and Red immediately returned Squirtle. Snake had finally located the detonator and clicked the little button, and Ivysaur was done, leaving Charizard and Cloud to fight the six of them. As Cloud charged the group again, he felt something get slapped on his back, and Mr. Game & Watch drenched him in oil. As Cloud tried to regain his bearings, he felt a searing pain come across him, and he saw no more. Charizard then shot a Blast Burn at Isaac in retaliation, who cast Froth Spiral to block the attack. Kirby leaped up, grabbed Charizard, and suplexed him into the ground. Diddy Kong then began shooting Charizard with peanuts, and Isaac finished the job by switching to the Ronin class and casting Avalanche, burying Charizard in a rock slide.

As Red returned the two, he looked at the six Smashers ready to fight, held up his hands in surrender, and said, _"I yield."_

Red's eyes returned to their normal color, and he silently stood there in what the other Smashers presumed was shock.

* * *

 **Do I want Charizard to be able to learn Draco Meteor? Yes. Is it likely? No. That's why Flame Burst was used.**

 **The possessor Spirits in the Puppet Fighters can search the depths of their host's mind, which is why the possessed Red mentions his hatred of Master Hand.**


	7. A Weapon to Surpass Metal Gear

**Welcome to Shadow Moses Island, the most notorious graveyard for Metal Gears.**

* * *

 _ **Shadow Moses Island...**_

* * *

Red, after a bit, calmly said, "You ever wondered why I didn't want to come back to the tournament?"

Everyone shook their heads. Hands trembling, Red continued, "I fought Galleom with Lucas. We beat it, but then it opened up a Subspace Bomb and took us into the air. If it wasn't for Lucas and Meta Knight, I'd be dead. I didn't want to return to that."

Mario chose that moment to say, "But why was-a Charizard at the fourth tournament?"

That had been the wrong thing to ask. Red then snarled, "Master Hand stole him away from me for three years. Three years without any indicator that Charizard was doing fine or had been in trouble. To hell with Master Hand. He even promised me something of this scale wouldn't happen again, and you know what? I took that chance like the fool that I am. And what happened? I lost my best friend of 10 years because of it. Once this whole debacle's over, you'll never be seeing me again."

A voice called out, "Who dares say my name?"

A large white glove crashed through the hangar, and the seven of them scrambled away from the large fist that made impact with the ground. Once Red saw what had crashed down onto the floor, his eyes narrowed in fury, and he clicked the three capsules on his belt, sending out Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard.

"Triple Finish, and don't stop until NOTHING IS LEFT!"

The three of them, though tired, obeyed, and began to charge up their most powerful attacks, but before they fired, Master Hand bellowed, "STOP!"

The charging noises died down, and the Pokémon looked to their trainer for orders, who furiously beckoned for them to attack. Before they could act, however, Master Hand sealed them in cages of light, and when Red tried to recall them, the Poké Balls were unable to recall the three into their capsules. Now having been pushed past his breaking point, Red charged the hand, only to get sealed in a cage of light like his Pokémon. After a bit of struggle, Red, defeated, slumped down in his cage, glared at Master Hand, and venomously said, "So, come here to take my entire team? Charizard wasn't enough for you, huh?"

"Red, please-"

"No."

"Red-"

"Shut up. Because of you, my life has been nothing but misfortune for the last five years. I nearly died at the hands of a crazy robot five years ago, you took my Charizard away for three years and left me NO status updates despite you promising to, and now, I don't even know where my friend is, all because of your little vanishing stunt that got almost all of us killed! This tournament was a mistake, and I never should've joined it."

Master Hand attempted to start a defense, but slumped, sighed in resignation, and said, "Right. This was all my fault. Red... I'm sorry."

"You said that when you came to re-recruit me. How do I know that you mean it this time?"

"You may leave when this whole thing is solved. I won't bother you again. Not for Charizard, not for Ivysaur, not for Squirtle. You can go and live your life if you wish when this is all done. But now... I must go. The Radiant One calls."

Master Hand snapped his fingers, and the Smashers all covered their eyes as a blinding light shone through the room.

Once the light had cleared up, Red recalled the three and walked to the group before saying, "I'll stick around until this is done."

Behind them, they heard Cloud groan out, "Ugh, what hit me?"

Before any of them could answer, a loud screech caused all of them to freeze, and Snake hissed at the group, "Follow. My. Lead."

Metal Gear REX burst into the hangar and emitted yet another ear-piercing screech. The humongous robot appeared to be in perfect condition, its railgun and radome having been restored. REX began to charge its laser, and Snake yelled for the group to scatter, which they did. REX fired the laser, which cut through the walls of the hangar like they were made of tissue.

Snake attempted to sneak under the robot to plant explosives in its legs, but the Metal Gear screeched again, and began stomping and flailing wildly in an attempt to crush the mercenary like it had done to Gray Fox many years ago. Snake got out from under the robot, and tried to destroy the radome that powered REX's interface with his Nikita. Red sent out his team, and sprayed them each with Full Restores before returning Squirtle and Ivysaur. Charizard tried to reassure Red that he would be fine, but Red furiously shook his head no before trying to return him. Charizard snorted, took to the skies, and began to bombard Metal Gear REX with Flame Bursts. REX then fired missiles at Charizard, but Kirby had already jumped up, began inhaling the missiles, and then spat them back at the cockpit. Cloud and Mario began scaling the robot, Mario reflecting any missiles that were fired at the two towards the walls. Isaac was providing support on the ground by trying to shackle the Metal Gear's legs with a combination of vines and earth, and Diddy Kong was flying around, providing a distraction for the robot's laser.

Cloud and Mario had finally gotten on top of the robot, and saw what Snake had told them to target. REX's radome, sitting there unprotected, was primed for destruction. Cloud did not hesitate in casting Thundaga on the robot, and Mario assisted by trying to crush the radome with his Ultra Hammer. REX roared in what Cloud assumed to be pain, and launched a volley of missiles onto its roof. Cloud and Mario scattered, and the missiles destroyed the radome, crippling the Metal Gear. Isaac, meanwhile, had managed to trip the robot with a construct of vines, and Cloud and Mario jumped off the robot as it toppled to the ground.

When the smoke cleared, REX let out a screech and fired off the last of its missiles at the group. While the Smashers were preparing a defense, they stopped in surprise, as Mr. Game & Watch had pulled out his Oil Panic bucket, reflecting the missiles right back at the robot. REX, having saved its last resort, began to charge up its railgun, which would eradicate itself, the Smashers, and the base in one fell swoop. REX fired, but Kirby jumped in front of the nuclear warhead and inhaled it, before spitting it back out in the form of bright yellow stars.

As the Metal Gear began its death throes, the Smashers, Snake especially, stared in astonishment at the infant Star Warrior, who had finished off one of the most dangerous technological weapons known to them with one Inhale.

* * *

 _ **Outside the Shadow Moses Island base...**_

* * *

"...Split up? Are you sure about that?"

"I'm-a certain, Isaac. We'll be able to-a cover more ground and rescue more of our friends that-a way."

The group nodded, and split off into three groups: Mario would go with Mr. Game & Watch and Kirby, Snake would go with Cloud and Isaac, and Diddy Kong would be going with Red. Mario and company headed off to the nearby jungle, Diddy Kong and Red ran off to what appeared to be Lumiose City in the distance, and Snake, Cloud, and Isaac departed for the mountain range in the distance.

* * *

 _ **Unknown location...**_

* * *

The Radiant One chuckled in amusement upon seeing the Smashers split off into groups.

 _"Oh, when will these fools learn that splitting up is never a good idea, especially in a world as sprawling as the one I've created? Even with the increased efficiency, I've dispatched my strongest Puppet Fighters to those areas, so they will NEVER get past those locations!"_

After a slight cackle, Galeem mused to itself, _"I sure hope my sealing magic is still holding up. It would be a crying shame if Dharkon showed up to ruin the moment..."_

* * *

 _ **Shadow Moses Island ruins...**_

* * *

Inside, a portly scientist holding a green jewel examined the remains of Metal Gear REX, and silently chuckled to himself, exclaiming, "Those fools from FOXHOUND never knew how to make a robot! I, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, will show them how a robot of this caliber should be built!"

Dr. Eggman's loud cackle went unheard by the Smashers, who had long since left behind the abandoned base.

* * *

 **So yeah, it might split into individual chapters of each group, or the chapters might continuously shift POVs, but rest assured, they'll all be reconvening when the showdown against Galeem occurs.**

 **So... _Metal Gear_ 's a very, very, confusing franchise. So much that there are plenty of bosses that could work in this setting, including the likes of The Boss, Metal Gear REX, Metal Gear RAY, Sniper Wolf, The End, The Beauty and the Beast Unit, Metal Gear Excelsus, and maybe Revolver Ocelot or Senator Armstrong, because holy crap, this franchise is crazy. (Bear in mind, the above list is a placeholder list for potential boss candidates from _Metal Gear_ , and the story's not just going to be _Metal Gear_ bosses, don't worry)**

 **So... how do you feel about Metal Gear REX being souped up by a Chaos Emerald?**


	8. Of Zubat and Garlic

**After a bit of deliberation, I think that focusing on one group for the majority of the chapter seems like the best option here. The blonde JRPG swordies and the bomb nut get the first chapter of the rest of the adventure.**

 **Major spoilers for _Final Fantasy VII_ , _Wario Land 3_ , and _Golden Sun: The Broken Seal_ along with its sequel, _The Lost Age_.**

* * *

 ** _The Pokémon Mountain Pass..._**

* * *

"...So, this leaflet says that there's a wide array of mountains from the various regions of the Pokémon world, including Moon, Silver, Coronet, Twist Mountain, Stark Mountain, Mt. Chimney, Blush Mountain, Mount... can you help me with these?"

With a sheepish grin, Isaac passed the leaflet over to Snake, who finished with, "Hokulani and Lanakila. Hawaiian for 'heavenly star' and 'victory' respectively. It also says we have to go through a place called Victory Road, for some reason."

Cloud grunted, "We've already rested up, freed the Spirits of this town, and have supplies. Can we leave?"

Snake shot back, "If you insist, Blondie."

Isaac led the two of them out of the town, and the three of them set off towards the large mountain range. Cloud was busy reading a book titled, "How to Handle Motion Sickness," while Snake kept an eye out for any threats that could appear at the moment. A random orb flew by and sucked in Isaac while they were walking on the path towards the mountains.

* * *

 _ **Mercury Lighthouse…**_

* * *

As Isaac stood up, he saw a doppelgänger of himself, who had pale blue hair and clothes. The Isaac clone said, _"Good to see you again, Isaac. I take it you stopped Felix from lighting the Jupiter and Mars Lighthouses?"_

Isaac, after regaining his voice, stammered out, "S-S-Saturos?! But… I thought you and Menardi died at the Venus Lighthouse!"

Saturos took on a more stern tone, saying, _"Answer the question, Isaac. Were the Lighthouses lit or not?"_

Isaac replied with a curt nod, and the possessed body smiled before continuing with, _"Thank you, Isaac. I can now rest with the knowledge that my hometown of Prox is finally safe. If you can, tell Felix that Menardi and I say hello."_

Isaac slowly nodded as his duplicate faded into mist that slowly formed a Spirit Orb, and Cloud pulled him up.

* * *

 _ **The**_ ** _Pokémon Mountain Pass..._**

* * *

"I will say, it's very convenient that Shadow Moses Island had two other Spirit Pouches for us..."

Isaac put the Spirit in the bag, and the three of them continued walking until they came across a large mountain with a sign in front of it that read, "Entrance to Mt. Moon. Population: Zubat"

Snake pulled out a flashlight, and the three of them stepped into Mt. Moon.

Their immediate impression of Mt. Moon was that it was dark. So dark, in fact, that Snake's flashlight only revealed stuff roughly three feet from them. They occasionally ran into a small, pink Pokémon that Isaac's leaflet called a Clefairy, but those took one look at Isaac's sword and fled in a panic. The sound of flapping wings gradually got louder and louder, until they heard Cloud give off a muffled shout. Snake turned around, shining his light at where the noise had come from, and snickered, while Isaac had broken down in laughter.

Cloud was covered from head to toe by a colony of Zubat, and he furiously began swinging the Buster Sword in an effort to startle the bats and get them off of him. Once the last of the Zubat had cleared up, Cloud, covered in bite marks and bruises that were gradually becoming more purple, ripped open one of the medicine kits they had bought from the town and patched up most of his wounds, before casting Poisona on himself to cure himself of the poison in his body. With that issue resolved, the three of them climbed down the ladder leading to the lower levels of the mountain.

As Cloud was lagging behind the other two, a voice in his head said, _"Cloud Strife. SOLDIER 1st Class. What are you doing with lowlifes like these two, when you could be in my service?"_

Cloud thought back, _"Sephiroth? There's no way that you're still here..."_

 _"Ah, I am not this Sephiroth you speak of. But he_ is _in my service. His sheer hatred of you combined with his determination was what prevented him from becoming a featureless face in the Lifestream when you killed him. And I, being the benevolent god I am, have given him a body."_

Galeem's voice vanished from Cloud's head, and immediately afterwards, his head was filled with a searing pain as Sephiroth's cold, cruel voice said, _"Good to see you again, Cloud. Kill your two companions. Kill them now."_

 _"Not... this... time!"_

 _"Perhaps you should've gotten those Jenova cells removed. KILL THEM!"_

" _ **NO!**_ "

Cloud dropped the Buster Sword and collapsed to his knees, clutching his head in agony, and Snake and Isaac turned around in concern, running over to the ex-SOLDIER member.

"Cloud, are you okay?"

"What happened, kid?"

Panting, Cloud said, "It was something that happened... four years ago. I think the records of my quest are in the Mansion's library along with his, yours, and everyone else's. Basically, I had to stop a man called Sephiroth from summoning a meteor to obliterate my world."

"...Sephiroth?"

"...Long story. I can tell you later, if you wish."

Isaac nodded eagerly, and the three of them continued into Mt. Moon's deepest floor. At the bottom floor, it was pitch black. So dark, in fact, that Snake's flashlight did not appear to be working. Isaac shuffled Djinn until he met the Chaos Lord class, and cast Fireball to light a small path ahead of them. They continued walking, until something slammed into Snake, sending him flying into the cave wall. Isaac and Cloud turned around in alarm, and they saw a red-eyed Wario, who was currently trying to shake Snake down for anything that resembled currency. Isaac and Cloud brandished their swords, and Wario turned towards the two swordsmen before punching his fists together and doing a "bring it" gesture. Cloud and Isaac obliged, and the fight was on.

Cloud began the fight by casting Thundara on Wario, and Isaac leaped forward, unleashing Squall in an attempt to stun him. While both attacks hit their mark, Wario, instead of slumping over, tapped Isaac on the shoulder, causing a powerful electrical current to surge through the Adept's body and stun him in place. Isaac yelled to Cloud, "Whatever you do, DON'T use anything that has fire effects in it! He's pretty much invulnerable to that!"

Cloud nodded, and dashed forward, catching Wario in a Cross Slash before following up with with a Freeze, trapping the treasure hunter in a block of ice. Much to Cloud's shock, however, Wario began moving the ice out of sheer willpower, now trying to slam into him. Cloud dodged, and Wario slammed right into a wall, which broke the ice surrounding him. Wario then corrected course and charged right at Cloud, who did not hesitate in dodging the tackle. Wario then ate a whole bottle of garlic, and in the process, he gained a small Viking helmet on top of his head. Wario then began dragging his feet on the ground, but instead of charging at Cloud, he switched his target to Isaac, who had just barely shaken off the paralysis, and charged. Cloud immediately cast Death, and Wario's momentum began slowing down, in addition to his body rapidly decomposing until he became Zombie Wario. Cloud then tried to slice him to ribbons, but the undead Wario grabbed the blade without much effort and cast it aside, before opening his jaw. Before he could Chomp Cloud, however, a pleasing sensation went through his body, which restored it. Isaac, fresh off casting Revive, switched to casting Lift on Wario, which strangely subdued the treasure hunter by crushing him in the Psynergy construct.

Once the Lift Psynergy had ended, Isaac took a look at Wario. He was fine, strangely unharmed from the two large hands crushing him, but he was unconscious. Cloud, having recovered the Buster Sword, pulled Snake up, and the mercenary took one look at Wario before saying, "We're taking him with us. His durability will help us a lot in the later mountains."

Isaac and Cloud both prepared to hoist up Wario, but the treasure hunter woke up and punched Isaac in the gut.

"Wah! What happened?"

Cloud said, "Everyone else is gone."

"No one here means no money... GAH! Wario can't live in a world like that!"

Isaac wheezed out, "So are you with us, or against us?"

After briefly picking his nose, Wario belched and said, "Wah, fine. I'll help, but only until this is finished!"

Wario then found a nearby rope and began to climb up it, and the three others followed his lead. The quartet found themselves outside Mt. Moon, with a path in front of them that lead to another mountain. They decided that now would be a good time to take a break, and the four of them set up a small camp at the bottom of the mountain, where Cloud began to tell the rest of his story.

"...Well, to begin, you know that title of mine?"

Wario said, "Yeah, SOLDIER 1st Class? What does that even mean?"

"It's not mine. Never was. It belonged to a close friend of mine, Zack Fair, and I sort of... took that identity for myself. I ended up in an eco-terrorism group called AVALANCHE, whose goal was to stop the Shinra Corporation from draining the planet of the Lifestream. Before that, I went with a guy named Sephiroth to my hometown, Nibelheim. After some weird discovery that he made, he went insane and burned the town to the ground. Anyways, during my quest, he tried using the Black Materia to summon Meteor to destroy the planet, but we stopped him with the help of a dead friend of mine, who summoned Holy to destroy Meteor."

Only Isaac was listening to the story, while Snake and Wario had both phased out. Wario whispered to Snake, "How much of that did you get?"

Snake, trying to ignore the rancid smell of garlic, choked out, "About one out of five words."

Cloud huffed in irritation, and Wario jumped at the opportunity to boast about his own exploits.

"Yeah, yeah, if Wario was in your situation, I would've ended that in a day. Now, Wario will tell you his story!"

Isaac rolled his eyes, but began listening either way. Cloud began reading his book again, and Snake simply went to sleep.

"Well, I came across a music box, and I was promised large amounts of money to free a being that lived inside it. Well, Wario wins, as you should know, but the being was actually an evil clown called Rudy! Of course, I won, and that adventure made me much richer! WA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Wario looked around, and saw that no one was listening to his story anymore. With an irritated grumble, he pulled out a telescope and looked up in the night sky at his planet that the Genie had given him.

* * *

 **Enter Wario, who's a total badass. Keep in mind, he survived a beam in the opening chapter, and is damn near unkillable otherwise. Isaac immobilizing him with Lift is a reference to the _only_ way Wario can die in _Wario Land 3_ : Rudy the Clown can grab him and cause a Game Over. _Warioware_ having him be a total slob is kinda funny, and it's also supported in _Master of Disguise_ , which is why he still keeps his unsanitary habits. I imagine Planet Waa isn't the best place to live on, though.**

 _ **Final Fantasy VII**_ **'s plot is a total mess. I've seen playthroughs, am currently doing one, and it's still confusing.**

 **And yes, not all Spirits want to fight. (This'll make sense with some Spirits later in the story)**


	9. King of the Wilds

**Here's a bit of interesting trivia if you haven't played the _Yoshi's Island_ series: The Yoshi in those games is actually a different Yoshi. At the end of _Yoshi's I_ _sland DS_ , when the six babies who are central to the game's plot are revealed to be Star Children (Mario, Peach, Donkey Kong, Wario, Bowser, and Luigi), the seventh Star Child, which is a baby Yoshi, is born. THAT Yoshi, to me, is the one that appears in _Super Mario World_ , the spinoffs, _Sm_ _ash_ , and _Yoshi's Story_. ( _Woolly World_ and _Crafted World_ are in a similar situation to the Paperverse: One of them is a storybook, and the other is a sort-of _Toy Story_ situation)**

 **...Just keep all of that in mind for future chapters.**

 **Happy New Year!**

* * *

 _ **Kongo Jungle...**_

* * *

Mario, Kirby, and Mr. Game & Watch collapsed on the floor of the jungle, having tripped over yet another vine. Mario got up, dusted himself off, and pulled out his map, confirming that this was indeed a point of interest. Donkey Kong's treehouse was right up ahead, and Mario had a feeling that the big primate himself was close by. Sure enough, Donkey Kong was standing on top of his treehouse, keeping vigilant watch over Kongo Jungle. Before the three of them could approach him, however, a Spirit Orb swooped by and sucked in Mario.

* * *

 _ **Garden of Hope...**_

* * *

Mario fell face-first onto the floor, and saw that it was poison. After quickly standing up and wiping the poison off his overalls, he saw his opponent: Samus, lacking her Power Suit, in a white version of the Zero Suit. Samus remarked, _"Huh. Never thought that the afterlife would be this peaceful. What happened to the Sorrow?"_

Turning around, she saw a short Italian man in plumber's overalls staring at her in confusion, and she said, _"Forgive me for not introducing myself. I am The Boss, the leader of the Cobra Unit. And you are?"_

Mario, assuming a fighting stance, said, "I'm-a Mario Mario. Madam, I apologize in advance, but I have to take-a you down."

Samus' face became stoic, and she said, _"Very well then. They called me The Joy because of how much I enjoyed combat. I never wanted John to inherit that, though…"_ Smirking, she finished with, _"Show me what you're made of, plumber."_

Mario jumped out of the way of a Paralyzer bolt, and reared his fist back for a massive overhead punch. Samus dodged, and kicked Mario in the face with her boots, leaving a small burn on the side of Mario's face. Gritting his teeth in pain, Mario slid under a Flip Jump, pulled out his Ultra Hammer, and smacked Samus across the face before throwing a massive Firebrand at the bounty hunter, who Flip Jumped over the fireball. Samus then snared Mario with her Plasma Whip, before slamming him to the ground and shooting him point-blank with the Paralyzer. As Mario tried to regain his senses, Samus kicked him in the gut and left him on the floor of poison. Before she could finish the job, however, Mario stood up, his eyes now glowing yellow. With a look of crazed fury, Mario unleashed the Mario Finale, which was an enhanced version of his Ultra Flame technique.

As Samus was being buffeted by the twin dragons of flame, Mario rushed in and kicked Samus before rearing back for another hammer swing. This time, Samus dodged, grabbed the handle, and cast the hammer into the abyss. Now running out of options, Mario threw Cappy at Samus, and successfully Captured the bounty hunter.

Cappy, his voice filled with panic, warned, "M-Mario! She's pretty strong... I don't think this Capture will last very long!"

Mario, undaunted, led Samus off into the abyss below, and when he confirmed that she was at a height low enough that she could not recover from, released control and jumped back onto the stage. After hearing a massive explosion behind him, he saw that his Ultra Hammer was back in his hands, and a Spirit Orb floated into his hands before emitting a bright light which brought him back to Kongo Jungle.

* * *

 _ **Kongo Jungle...**_

* * *

Mario, after putting The Boss' Spirit Orb into the little bag, saw that Donkey Kong was still on top of the treehouse. Motioning for Kirby and Mr. Game & Watch to follow his lead, the three of them snuck into Donkey Kong's filled Banana Hoard and each grabbed a handful of bananas to lure the primate to them. Sure enough, they heard Donkey Kong let out a ferocious roar as soon as he saw them trying to make off with his precious bananas. The large gorilla leaped off the perch of his treehouse and in front of the three intruders, beating his chest before slamming his fists into the ground in challenge. Mario, Kirby, and Game & Watch dropped the bananas they were holding, before assuming fighting stances.

With a shocking burst of speed, Donkey Kong charged at Mario and tackled him into a large palm tree. Kirby tried to smack him with the Hammer Flip, but a meaty backhanded slap from Donkey Kong knocked away the pink puffball before he set his sights on the diminutive two-dimensional man standing in front of him. Donkey Kong began winding up his arm to charge up his Giant Punch, while Mr. Game & Watch just silently stood there. As soon as he had charged it up enough, DK let loose with the punch, but Mr. Game & Watch dodged it by shifting dimensions. Growling, Donkey Kong pulled out a large, wooden firearm, and began shooting coconuts at where Mr. Game & Watch was standing.

Mario and Kirby took advantage of this, and jumped Donkey Kong while he was targeting Mr. Game & Watch. DK tried to shake them off, but Mario smacked his former rival in the back with the Ultra Hammer, and Kirby followed up by pulling out the Ultra Sword and slashing Donkey Kong from every possible angle.

Much to Kirby's surprise, however, Donkey Kong managed to power through most of the assault, resulting in DK grabbing and planting the infant Star Warrior into the ground. Mario threw a fireball at DK, resulting in his back fur becoming badly singed. Before Donkey Kong could pummel the plumber, he felt the pain of a bolt of lightning course through his body, and the primate collapsed to the floor.

Mr. Game & Watch, now putting away his Judgement hammer, which had just flashed a large 9 above his head, tapped Donkey Kong's back lightly, and the gorilla let out a little noise, confirming that he had indeed been knocked out by the Judgement hammer.

After an hour of waiting (and Kirby digging himself out of the ground), Donkey Kong stirred, the evil influence in the back of his head having gone away. Sitting up, he saw Mario, Mr. Game & Watch, and Kirby to his right, and he regarded them with a wave before, in sign language, saying, "Have you guys seen my nephew anywhere?"

Mario, his grandfather's former enemy, said, "Well, we-a sent him with Red to-a Lumiose City for efficiency." Upon seeing Donkey Kong's panicked face, Mario put his hands up in a reassuring fashion, saying, "Relax, I'm-a sure they're fine!"

Donkey Kong, after readjusting his tie, got up to his feet, and shook Mario's hand, before communicating, "Look, I want to make sure that something like the Subspace Incident doesn't happen again, so I guess I'll help you guys."

Mr. Game & Watch beeped out, "I hope that there's no more Shadow Bugs out there..."

* * *

 _ **Unknown location...**_

* * *

Galeem looked at the imprisoned Mr. Game & Watch clones he had created, and invisibly smiled once he saw the five clones start pouring out Shadow Bugs, which began to reform the Duon robot that had been destroyed in the Stadium of Champions. As the robot began to take shape, Galeem made adjustments to iron out the numerous kinks of the robot due to it having a living host previously: Duon gained two additional sides, making the robot face all four cardinal directions, and the servos that allowed for its quick mobility were protected by the divine metal that had infused Link's Hylian Shield. As the Shadow Bugs began to clear out, Galeem colored one of the extra faces red, the other one orange, gave the orange one two shields, and the red one a massive gunblade and a shield.

Using his powers, Galeem teleported the robot into the large maze that he had stuck Pac-Man in.

* * *

 _ **Kongo Jungle...**_

* * *

While Mario and Donkey Kong were leading the other two through the jungle; Donkey Kong because of his vast knowledge of the location, Mario because of his position as the Mushroom Kingdom's ambassador requiring him to visit the island on occasion, a random Spirit Orb flew out of nowhere and swept in Donkey Kong, who let out an alarmed yell as he was pulled in.

* * *

 _ **The Plain of Beasts...**_

* * *

Donkey Kong looked at his surroundings, and saw that he was in an empty plain, with occasional splashes of rubble wedged in the land. Before he could investigate any further, a random kick to his face stopped him and made him look around, before his sights settled on the culprit in front of him: Wolf, in his green clothes, standing in an incredibly hunched position, gnashing his teeth and giggling like a madman, said, _"What is this? Big, funny monkey... Gau want to get his Rage!"_

As Donkey Kong pondered what Wolf (or in this case, Gau) meant by a "Rage," Wolf put his hands together, and a pale blue triangle of light glowed around him before he started levitating. As Donkey Kong did a double take, Wolf then did a gesture, and fireballs started to rain on the grassy terrain.

DK, unfazed, pulled out his coconut gun, and fired a spurt of Homing Coconuts at Wolf, who dodged the burst and glowed with the same symbol again. The fireballs stopped their bombardment, but the winds in the plain started to pick up, and several medium-sized tornadoes formed and began homing in on Donkey Kong, who was dragged up into the air, and then slammed back down. Now agitated, Donkey Kong pulled out his jet bongos, strapped them on, and played a small beat on them. For a moment, nothing happened, and even Wolf's assault of wind momentarily came to a halt to observe the situation.

The jets in the bongos then roared to life, and DK yelled again as he suddenly shot up into the air. After recovering and taking control of the jetpack, Donkey Kong pulled out his gun and fired another cluster of coconuts at Wolf, who, after dodging, flashed the same symbol, and dropped to the ground like a hunk of metal. Getting up, the vulpine mercenary pulled out his gun, but instead of a small purple bolt, a thin blue laser fired out of the gun and towards DK, who flew out of the way.

Charging up a Giant Punch, Donkey Kong spent the next few minutes avoiding Wolf's lasers in order to ready his ace-in-the-hole. Once it was charged, he flew at Wolf with blinding speed and blasted the canine with a meaty fist right to the jaw, sending Wolf flying into a nearby pile of rubble. DK then put away his jet bongos, and bounded over to where Wolf was in order to confirm if that was indeed the end of it. As Donkey Kong picked apart at the rocks, one of Wolf's paws shot out and grasped the primate by the throat.

 _"Gau... think big monkey... is pretty good. But Gau... better."_

A small droning noise gradually began to grow louder, and a small blue sphere began rapidly expanding from where Wolf lay. The last-resort Ultima consumed Wolf, Donkey Kong, and most of the plain in its blue sphere of energy before exploding, sending rubble everywhere.

When the last of the energy subsided, Donkey Kong, though his fur was badly singed, managed to survive the explosion perfectly unscathed. From underneath the rocks, a Spirit Orb floated into his hands, and flashed, turning the Kong's vision white.

* * *

 _ **Kongo Jungle...**_

* * *

Donkey Kong suddenly materialized in front of Mario and company, who jumped back in surprise, and the Spirit Orb that Donkey Kong was carrying floated into the Spirit Pouch that they were carrying.

Mr. Game & Watch held up a sign that read, "Why do you smell like burnt hair?"

Donkey Kong pantomimed his entire battle with the Spirit in full detail as the group walked out of the jungle.

* * *

 **To say that _Final_** _ **Fantasy**_ **'s Spirit problem will be getting a bit of a fix is a massive understatement.**

 **If you're confused about DK's arsenal, then just look up _Donkey Kong 64 and Donkey Kong Barrel Blast_.**

 **It's a tad ironic that Galeem's using Shadow Bugs of all things, isn't it?**


	10. Attack on Lumiose City

**The last chapter was actually supposed to be longer, but I didn't want to focus on one group too much.**

 **Red hasn't been in a region that wasn't Kanto, Johto, or Unova, so Lumiose City is something completely different for him. Diddy Kong is... well, Diddy Kong. Keep your eyes peeled and your heart guarded...**

* * *

 _ **Lumiose City...**_

* * *

Joker, in the darkness of the night, kept observing the two people of interest that he had first seen upon touching down in this strange place that reminded him of France. One was a teenager who looked close to his age, and the other, strangely enough, was a small monkey wearing a red cap.

Deciding to retain his low profile, Joker continued trailing them from a distance.

Red sent out Charizard, and the burly dragon took to the skies, but was blindsided by a Spirit Orb, which, after sucking in Charizard, homed in on Red and also absorbed the teenager.

* * *

 _ **Gerudo Valley...**_

* * *

When Charizard came to, the first thing he noticed was that he was falling. Looking to his right, he saw Red falling, and swooped under his master in an effort to catch him. Red woke up when he landed on Charizard, and upon seeing how high up they were let out a yell of panic, screaming, "I'M AFRAID OF HEEEIIIIGGGGHTTTTTTSS!"

Charizard managed to land quite nicely, and Red dismounted before emptying his breakfast onto the bridge that they were standing on. Turning around, he blanched at the sight before him: a humongous King K. Rool, who was unusually black instead of green, and a chalk-white man of average height who was holding a sword. The man flourished and pointed his sword at Red, saying, _"Greetings. My name is Ghirahim. And you are?"_

Red, regaining his composure, said, "Red. I'm a Pokémon Trainer from the Kanto region."

Ghirahim smiled and challenged Red with, _"Well, Red, my master over here has taken this form called The Imprisoned. If you wish to save Hyrule from his wrath, you must defeat him within... five minutes!"_

Red said, "Well, he's not moving, so Charizard, use- oof!"

Ghirahim had jabbed the butt of his sword into Red's stomach, and he tauntingly wagged his finger in front of the teenager, saying, _"Did you really think that I would've given it to you that easily? If you want to beat him, you're going to have to kill me first."_

Red smirked, and sent out Squirtle and Ivysaur before commanding Ivysaur to assist Charizard in bringing down King K. Rool. Squirtle stayed with Red, ready to challenge the man that stood before them. With a fancy gesture, Ghirahim charged at Squirtle, swinging his sword in an overhead arc. Squirtle dodged, and fired off an Aura Sphere at Ghirahim. The small blue sphere of Aura was persistent in its pursuit of its target, constantly following his every move until Ghirahim threw a dagger at the orb of energy, destroying it. Up in the skies, Charizard and Ivysaur were working together to bring down K. Rool, who, peculiarly, was standing there doing absolutely nothing.

Ivysaur nodded towards Charizard before letting out a grunt, and Charizard grabbed Ivysaur and held her upside down. In spite of the sudden wave of nausea that overcame her, Ivysaur began carpet bombing K. Rool with a barrage of Seed Bombs, the explosive seeds raining down on their immobile target. When the dust cleared, K. Rool was still mostly unfazed, much to Ivysaur's chagrin. Charizard growled something along the lines of, _"Do you have a Solar Beam ready to fire?"_ to which Ivysaur nodded. A toothy grin came across Charizard's face, and he roared to the heavens. Ivysaur then launched her Solar Beam, the massive laser of solar energy actually making K. Rool flinch down on the ground, and throwing up a massive plume of dust that obscured their target. Charizard righted Ivysaur, and the two of them came in for a landing.

Meanwhile, Squirtle was in a bad spot against Ghirahim, with the swordsman having taken advantage of a whiffed Ice Punch by smacking Squirtle in the back of the head with the butt of his sword, and throwing two daggers at Squirtle, leaving some nasty cuts on the Tiny Turtle Pokémon. As Red reached for Squirtle's Poké Ball to recall him, a dagger narrowly missed his hand, and Ghirahim said, _"Don't try it."  
_

Before Ghirahim could raise his sword to finish off Squirtle, some vines lashed around his legs, tying them together and sending him to the ground. As Ghirahim cursed, a massive rock to the back of his head made his vision go black.

Charizard stood behind them, posing with pride over the fact that he had lifted a boulder the size of a Registeel to use for Rock Smash. As Ivysaur helped Squirtle to his feet, a multicolored glow came across all three Pokémon. Red, knowing what this meant, yelled, "TRIPLE FINISH!"

Ivysaur reared her feet up before slamming them down into the ground, causing numerous large, spiky roots to travel across the ground and towards K. Rool. Charizard, wrapped in a shroud of flames, punched the ground hard, sending columns of flame towards the large crocodile, which circled around him, ready to go off at any second. Lastly, Squirtle fired off a massive orb of water, which burst upon touching King K. Rool. After the Hydro Cannon had gone off, the Frenzy Plant constricted K. Rool in vines and squeezed hard before Charizard's Blast Burn detonated, engulfing the reptilian monarch in a massive wall of fire, not helped by the fact that he was smothered in combustible overgrowth.

When the flames subsided, all that was left was a large Spirit Orb, which flashed once before engulfing Red and his Pokémon with white light.

* * *

 _ **Lumiose City...**_

* * *

As Diddy Kong was sitting outside one of the city's many cafés, anxiously waiting for Red to reappear, the teen did just that in the middle of the street, with all three of his Pokémon following suit. After a moment of silence, Red carefully said, "That... was actually pretty fun, not gonna lie."

Charizard tapped Red's shoulder, asking for some medicine, which Red obliged to by handing a Hyper Potion to Charizard, who, after a few failed attempts, managed to spray the medicine onto Squirtle's wounds. Red returned the three shortly after, as he knew that they were in no shape to fight at the moment.

Diddy screeched in alarm at something behind Red, and shoved him out of the way of a watery kunai. Greninja, now revealed by the moonlight, shifted his attention to Diddy Kong and struck a pose with the kunai. Diddy assumed a stance of his own, and Greninja broke out into a sprint towards Diddy, who jumped towards Greninja, mounted on his back, and began yanking at the Pokémon's tongue in an attempt to cause harm to him. Greninja let out a croak of alarm, and began jumping around erratically to try and shake off Diddy. Diddy looked to his right, gave Greninja a dope slap, and jumped off him, leaving Greninja to look around in confusion before eating a Leaf Storm to the face, knocking him unconscious.

As Red recalled Ivysaur, he ran towards Greninja, Max Potion on hand. Sitting down next to the knocked-out Pokémon, he opened his eyelids, and the eyes slowly began to change from red to their natural color of pink, confirming that Greninja had indeed returned to normal. Red tasked Diddy Kong with keeping watch over the Ninja Pokémon as he ran to the nearest store to hopefully find a Pokémon speech translator. After about fifteen minutes, Red ran back holding a pair of small earpieces, and kept one in his backpack before putting the other in his right ear. An hour later Greninja stirred, and sat up, asking something that Red's device translated as, _"Ooooh, what hit me?"_

"You're a Greninja, right?"

 _"Indeed I am. Do you have any idea why I'm back in Lumiose City?"_

"Not really, no. Sorry."

 _"Can you send out one of your Pokémon so that I can talk to them?"_

Red nodded, and sent out Charizard, who regarded Greninja with a fistbump before engaging in conversation, which Red listened to in fascination.

 _"So, this trainer of yours... is he someone that I can trust?"_

 _"Of course! Why do you think I was talking about him nonstop for the last three years? We managed to topple the Kanto League, for Arceus' sake!"_

 _"Point taken. So... what do you think about that Incineroar? I think that he's pretty cool, if a little arrogant and showy."_

 _"You too? I was worried that I was the only one that liked him out of my team!"_

The two Pokémon paused their conversation upon hearing a small sniffle. They turned to their left and looked at Red, who had been touched by what Charizard had said, and both Pokémon gave him quizzical looks before he said, "It's fine, go back to what you were doing."

Charizard and Greninja did just that. After about a half hour (and a lengthy dispute over whether Dragon-types being weak to themselves made any sense), the clouds in the sky became blood-red, and King K. Rool's ship, the Flying Krock, flew over the city, dropping Shadow Bugs. Charizard grumbled, _"Not THIS again…"_ while Greninja stared in confusion at the purple spots that were accumulating on the ground.

Slowly, the Shadow Bugs began forming Primids, and Charizard roared in challenge while Greninja jumped up to a higher vantage point. Before them or Diddy Kong could do anything, a loud bang rang, and when the noise stopped, one of the Primids had a hole through its head. Said Primid collapsed to the floor, and the rest of the horde began their assault.

Greninja began the fight by using Bounce, and he sprung high into the air before landing on one of the Primid's heads, and then vaulting off to another, croaking out, _"This is fun!"_

Red had sent out Squirtle and Ivysaur, and Charizard beckoned for Ivysaur to climb on before grabbing Squirtle in his claws, and the trio took to the skies. On the ground, Diddy Kong was getting overwhelmed by a swarm of Metal Primids before a dark blur raced by him, knives flashing, and vanishing just as quickly. The Primids' top halves slid off their bodies before collapsing to the ground, both halves leaking Shadow Bugs. Up top, Squirtle, in Charizard's clutches, fired a Dragon Pulse, the dragon-shaped beam of energy erratically zig-zagging across the ground, taking out a squadron of Fire Primids. On top of Charizard, Ivysaur let loose with Seed Bomb, the explosives dropping on top of a giant Boom Primid, which took that out and caused it to dissolve into a large pile of Shadow Bugs.

After Greninja had finished using Bounce, he looked back to admire his handiwork. A swarm of 30 Primids all collapsed to the floor and began leaking Shadow Bugs. Before he could relax, however, he noticed that the Shadow Bugs of all the defeated Primids had merged, and began to form a Primid that was as tall as Prism Tower. The Mega Primid, after blinking twice, slowly stepped across the city, having seen a target on one of the rooftops.

Joker cursed, and jumped away from a large fist that pulverized the building he was standing on. Having jumped onto another building, he spotted a trio of Pokémon out of the corner of his eye, and summoned Satanael to cast Heat Riser on the three of them. The Persona, though initially confused, obliged, resulting in Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard all feeling a rush of energy course through them, and Charizard yelled at the two, _"We gotta use the Ultimate Moves to bring this thing down! Ready?"_

The other two yelled back, _"Ready as always!"_

Now flying close to the ground, Ivysaur jumped off, and Charizard took off with Squirtle before bellowing, _"FIRE!"_

Squirtle shot a Hydro Cannon at the Mega Primid, and the orb of water exploded upon contact, showering the Primid in a massive plume of water. On the ground, Ivysaur performed Frenzy Plant once more, and the roots that shot up from the ground locked the Primid's legs in place. All that was left of their combo was Charizard's Blast Burn, and he signaled to Red that the Mega Evolution was needed. Red nodded, and activated his Mega Stone, causing Charizard to Mega Evolve into Mega Charizard X. Surrounded with an aura of blue fire, Charizard, from up high, punched the ground so hard that a small crater formed at the impact zone, and column after column of dragonfire roared to life, before circling around the Mega Primid. The columns of fire exploded afterward, sending up a massive pillar of blue fire and throwing up a searing wave of heat. When the heat died down and the fire subsided, nothing was left of the Mega Primid, with even the Shadow Bugs that composed it having been disintegrated by the sheer heat. Charizard reverted back to his normal appearance, and Red returned the three of them.

Up above, Joker ran off into the night.

* * *

 **Another chapter done!**

 **Greninja in Lumiose seemed like a no-brainer when I started, and I wanted to display the teamwork of the Pokémon Trainer's team at its best, which is why the Primid attack happens. Also, the Flying Krock replaces the Halberd as to not seem repetitive.**

 **As for Joker, I don't think my _Persona_ knowledge is up to snuff that he can officially join a team yet.**


	11. Advancement Among Allies

**As to not seem so repetitive, this chapter features a perspective from each group.**

* * *

Wario punched a through a boulder that blocked the exit that lead to the outside of the mountain, which was covered in snow, blocking off some of the entrances, and flexed in front of the group. Snake, Cloud, and Isaac, each rolling their eyes, walked past Wario and saw the outside of the mountain for the first time, and since it was winter, it made Isaac look around the mountain in amazement. Most of the lower level was buried in snow, blocking off some exits, and as a result, the group walked across the bridge and into another tunnel.

Inside the tunnel, Shadow Bugs materialized and began to form one of the shadowy Pokémon that they encountered earlier. Wario punched his fists together, Isaac and Cloud raised their swords, and Snake assumed a stance that showed he was ready to perform CQC if need be.

The Shadow Dugtrio merely burrowed underground and hit Wario in the groin with Shadow Break, and the treasure hunter collapsed to the floor, clutching his nether regions in pain. Isaac cast Mad Growth on the ground in order to snuff out any possible resurfacing locations for the Pokémon, and commanded Cloud to cast Fira into the initial burrowing hole, which he did, resulting in an ear-piercing screech wailing all across the tunnel. As Wario rolled on the ground in agony, Snake saw that the Shadow Bugs that composed the Dugtrio were attempting to reform, and he pulled out his SOCOM, shooting at the dark spots until they dispersed. Holstering the firearm once more, he beckoned for the group to follow, with Cloud hefting Wario up on his shoulders.

Once the group got close to the exit of Twist Mountain, something snagged Isaac's scarf, and the Adept yelled as a Shadow Mandibuzz snatched him in his talons and flew out of the mountain's exit and into the sky. Concentrating, Cloud cast Tornado, and a humongous cyclone appeared in front of the bird. The Mandibuzz squawked in alarm, and banked to the left, causing a small tear in Isaac's scarf. On the ground, Wario, rummaging through his overalls, pulled out an Eagle Statue and a Dragon Crystal, which turned him into King Dragon Wario. Striking a pose, Wario took off to the skies, laughing triumphantly all the while.

Isaac, not wanting to risk dropping the Gaia Blade, began swinging at the bird aimlessly, trying to hit it to make it release him. The Shadow Mandibuzz cawed angrily, and used Scary Face, stopping Isaac from thrashing any further. Looking back, the Bone Vulture Pokémon's eyes shrunk in panic, as it saw an obese man wearing a dragon-scale hat about to fly directly into it. As Wario flew by, the Mandibuzz dodged, and shot a Dark Pulse at Wario, which hit its mark, causing Wario to lose the King Dragon hat and begin falling straight down. In his panic, Wario began searching his overalls once more, and when he felt his hands touch Goodstyle, an idea went off in the treasure hunter's brain. Pulling out the wand, he shook it once for the person within the wand to awaken. Goodstyle, having been forced awake, said, "Ah, good day, Master Wario! Are my services ne-"

"YES! Falling! Wario needs to fly NOW!"

Goodstyle obliged, and with a flourish, Wario transformed into Wicked Wario, and began regaining altitude effortlessly. Once he saw that he was close to the Mandibuzz, he pulled out Goodstyle again to transform into Sparky Wario. After rubbing his hands together, he snapped his fingers, and a bolt of electricity shot out and zapped the Pokémon, which caused it to drop Isaac, who began screaming as he entered freefall. As he was falling, Wario drew an "X" with Goodstyle, and he turned back to normal. Pulling out a Jet Pot from his overalls, he became Jet Wario, and wasted no time in flying towards the falling Adept.

As he was falling, Isaac mentally cursed himself for not paying attention when Ivan and Sheba were talking about manifesting the wind part of Jupiter Psynergy, as even under the Master class, he never fully mastered Hurricane. Expecting to hit the ground, something slammed into him, breaking his fall. As he attempted to get a look at his savior, he yelped in a mixture of surprise and disgust, having got a close-up of Wario's nose.

Once they had landed, they saw that Snake and Cloud were running towards them. Isaac waved, and pulled out the map of the Pokémon Mountain Pass showing that they had managed to make the trek to Stark Mountain, which strangely enough, was merged with both Mt. Chimney and Reversal Mountain. The quartet walked into Stark Mountain, hoping to find more allies.

* * *

As Joker was following the group of Red, Diddy Kong, and Greninja through the city, his phone buzzed, and he pulled it out to see that Ryuji and Ann had texted him.

 _"Yo, dude, how's it like to be a Smasher? Have you met any hot ladies yet?"_

 _"Ryuji... anyways, remember what the tournament was like when we watched it on TV? It looked really tough! Make sure you take care of yourself over there, okay?"_

Rolling his eyes in amusement, Joker texted the both of them back, which read, _"I'm fine. There's just... a small crisis going on, and I'm helping in it right now."_

 _"Aww... can you promise us a picture with some of the Smashers, at the very least?"_

 _"Sounds good, Ryuji."_

Joker put away his phone, and continued to tail the group from a distance. Greninja heard a rustle in the bushes, and urgently tapped Red on the shoulder, pointing to said bush. Red sent out his entire team, all of whom began charging their attacks, Squirtle having an Aura Sphere at the ready, Ivysaur prepared to fire a Sludge Bomb, and Charizard building up a Fire Blast, before yelling, "Come out of the bush, with your hands up!"

Diddy pulled out one of his Peanut Popguns, and Greninja began charging an Ice Beam. In the bushes, Joker nervously gulped upon hearing all the attacks being readied, and pulled the envelope out of his jacket before nervously rising up out of the bush, hands in the air.

The six of them saw the envelope that was confirmation of the person being a Smasher, and the Pokémon stopped charging their attacks while Diddy put away his gun. Red broke the silence, saying, "You're new here?"

Joker, relaxing now, said, "Yeah. Name's Ren, but you can call me Joker."

Red, having shaken the teenager's hand, said, "Have you seen anything regarding past Smash tournaments?"

"Yeah, actually!"

Joker began telling the group about when he and his friends first watched the fourth edition of the Super Smash Brothers tournament...

* * *

 _"Ren, hurry up with the popcorn!"_

 _As the bag of popcorn finished its sojourn in the microwave, Ren Amamiya, for once having nothing too major to take care of, had decided to invite Ryuji, Ann, and Futaba over to have a casual day in Cafe Leblanc. Upon arriving, Ryuji's first action was to sprint towards the TV and urgently power it on. As Ann questioned why, Ryuji responded with, "It's the Super Smash Brothers tournament, Ann!"_

 _While Ann was confused, Futaba had let out a squeal of delight, and ran over to the TV to join Ryuji._

 _As Ren joined the others in the attic, holding the popcorn, Ryuji dragged him aside to show the official websites of the past tournaments, even showing a few exhibition matches featuring a short Italian man called Mario going against a blue hedgehog who was named Sonic. Joker had watched these matches in fascination, and he now wanted to see if the tournament Ryuji had talked about was worth watching._

 _As it turned out, it was, and it was a great way to spend his Sunday. Some of the matches that the premiere had shown had put the four of them on the edge of their seat, and even Morgana, who had slept through the first hour, was watching the matches with bated breath by the end of it._

 _Every weekend after that, Joker would invite the three of them over to watch the newest episode of the tournament, even recording all the episodes, which wasn't easy, considering that the tournament had gone on for two years, and with Futaba's help, managed to transfer it all to a hard drive to watch in their downtime once the tournament had wrapped._

 _Later, once Joker had taken his invite from the Game Awards show, the group had commemorated the occasion with dinner at Cafe Leblanc. Ryuji had celebrated by pretending to Falcon Punch everything in sight, while Ann and Futaba were looking at the introductory video for the newest edition of the Smash tournament, squealing over one of the newcomers, a small yellow dog named Isabelle._

 _Ren, though nervous, was also excited to show just what the Phantom Thieves of Hearts were capable of._

* * *

Red, at the end of Joker's story, smiled, saying, "So I take it you've been a fan of the tournament for quite a while, eh?"

Joker nodded enthusiastically, before pulling out his phone, saying, "Can I take a picture with you guys? I promised my friends a photo with one of you guys..."

Red replied with a friendly nod, and he, his team, Greninja, and Diddy Kong all grouped around Joker. Ren held the phone above him, capturing the seven of them on the screen before taking the photo. Giving a thumbs-up to the group, they all stopped posing, and Joker sent the photo to the chat consisting of him, Ryuji, Ann, and Futaba.

Ryuji's text read, _"Holy shit, this is super rad, man! I didn't know that Charizard had a trainer before this!"_

Futaba's text said, _"Wow, those other Pokémon look super cool!"_

Lastly, Ann's reply read, _"Wow, that looks cool, have fun out there, and good luck with this crisis!"_

Joker tucked his phone away, and accompanied the rest of the group in their trip through Lumiose City, conversing with the Pokémon called Greninja as they walked.

* * *

Mario's group had reached a fork in the road shortly after exiting Kongo Jungle, one path leading to a small village, and the other leading to a cemetery. The four of them agreed to split up to cover even more ground, Mario going with his former rival, and Kirby accompanying Mr. Game & Watch. The former group headed towards the village, while Kirby's group went to the cemetery.

* * *

Mario and Donkey Kong arrived at the village rather quickly, and upon arriving, saw that the place was deserted, with the exception of a blonde teenager holding a large sword. Matthew, standing in the center of the village, lazily sheathed his sword upon seeing the plumber and his companion approaching, saying, _"Uh, hey. What brings you two here?"_

Mario, utilizing his skills as a negotiator, put his hands up in a placating fashion, saying, "Relax, Matthew, we-a just want to talk," while Donkey Kong thew up a thumbs-up in agreement. Mario continued, saying, "Who is-a this Radiant One you people keep-a talking about?"

Matthew shrugged in a casual manner, replying with, _"I don't know. In fact, none of the other Puppet Fighters know the true name of the Radiant One. How about I simply end your journey right here, right now?"_

Donkey Kong signaled, "Not a chance," pounding his fists together before punching the ground, and Mario pulled out his Ultra Hammer, saying, "I'm afraid that-a won't happen."

 _"Then you leave me no choice."_

Matthew unsheathed the Sol Blade, and immediately unleashed Centurion, lunging in for a rapid stabbing attack. Mario and Donkey Kong scattered, and once he pulled himself back up, Donkey Kong pulled out his Coconut Gun, firing a spurt of coconuts at the Adept. Lunging in, Matthew kicked the primate in the gut before using the Sol Blade like a baseball bat, sending DK careening into a nearby building. Mario popped a dozen Double Cherries into his mouth, and twelve other clones of Mario appeared. The Mario army dogpiled Matthew, who, after a moment, used Planetary to shake off the clones, jumping high into the air. Up in the air, he threw an Inferno down to the ground, the ensuing sea of fire wiping out the Mario clones. Shuffling Djinn to become the Master class, Matthew snapped his fingers, resulting in incredibly dense storm clouds looming over the village. Out of the clouds, several bolts of lightning homed in on Mario.

Mario, due to having not being blessed by the Thunder God during his and Luigi's adventure in the Beanbean Kingdom, could only dodge the Thunderhead. Quickly switching to the Mercury Druid class, Matthew used Froth Spiral, managing to trap Mario in a swirl of bubbles. Before he could unleash Radiant Fire, however, Donkey Kong, having bounded off the roof of one of the buildings, performed a double axe handle on the Adept, driving him down into the ground. As Mario was freed from the whirlpool, he whipped out the Ultra Hammer and jumped, performing an overhead swing aimed right at Matthew's head. The Adept narrowly dodged by rolling out of the way, only to be met by a large, hairy ape obstructing his path. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw that Mario was strangely taking off his hat and putting on one that looked like it was made out of solid steel. Mario transformed into Metal Mario, and began a slow, unflinching walk towards Matthew, but before he could react, Donkey Kong scooped him into a bearhug, making him face Mario, who was steadily getting closer and closer. Once Mario began to wind his fist back for a punch, Matthew screamed, _"I YIELD!"_

His eyes returning to their usual bluish-gray, Donkey Kong broke the hold, and Matthew scrambled to pick up his sword while Mario took off the Metal Cap, reverting back to his regular appearance.

"Ugh... what happened to me?"

Mario began explaining verbally what had happened, while Donkey Kong pantomimed the events behind him.

* * *

Inside the old cemetery, Kirby and Mr. Game & Watch had just broken yet another grave that had tried to attack them. Looking around for a Puppet Fighter, neither of them saw anything that resembled any of the Smashers, the closest thing being an overgrowth that strangely resembled the Piranha Plant. Just as they were about to give up, they heard the strumming of a banjo, and the two of them ran off to find the source of the noise.

* * *

 **If I'm being honest, Matthew is the PERFECT character for this fic, as in his game, _Golden Sun: Dark Dawn_ , the duality between light and dark is a crucial plot point.**

 _ **Wario: Master of**_ ** _Disguise_ , while a weird game, has a phenomenal soundtrack that's worth checking out.**

 **Joker joins a team because I've finally done enough research on _Persona 5_.**

 **As for Banjo? Well, you'll have to wait for the next chapter that focuses on that duo.**


	12. The Ol' One-Two

**As to prevent further continuity lock-out, I strongly advise that new readers read my previous fic, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Everyone is HERE!" as you may not understand some of the jokes made in here, due to them being references to the previous story in the "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" series.**

 **Without further ado, the show shall go on!**

* * *

Joker, as he, Red, Diddy Kong, and Greninja were walking around Lumiose City, heard a loud commotion coming from a nearby gymnasium. Tapping Greninja on the shoulder, he pointed towards the building, whispering, "We should check that out…"

The response Joker got was _"I agree,"_ making him relieved that he had bought a translator on Red's request.

Joker and Greninja began running to the gymnasium, and after a little bit of confusion, Red and Diddy followed shortly after.

Inside, there was a small crowd going absolutely nuts over a fight going on in a boxing ring at the center. Looking closely, Greninja was able to make out Little Mac and Ryu duking it out inside, the short boxer being pretty evenly matched with the master martial artist.

Little Mac sidestepped a Tatsumaki Senpukyaku from Ryu, and retaliated with a one-two punch combo, sending Ryu into one of the corners. Mac then rushed into the corner and began beating on Ryu, only to be stopped by a left hook to his jaw.

Joker had taken a sign from a person in the crowd that read, "Go Little Mac!" but put it down sheepishly after Red gave him a disapproving stare, telling him to concentrate on the match.

The end of the match came when Ryu successfully parried Mac's KO Uppercut and retaliated with a Shin Shoryuken, launching the boxer sky-high. After about thirty seconds, Little Mac crashed down on the mat with a resounding thud, clearly out for the count. Ryu harshly kicked the teenager out of the ring, and yelled out, _"Anyone else want a piece of me?"_

Joker jumped out of the stands and into the ring, with Greninja following suit. Ryu cracked his knuckles and performed a taunting gesture, while Joker and Greninja drew their weapons, and the fight began. Greninja vanished, due to initiating his Shadow Sneak attack, and that left Joker to fight the World Warrior by his lonesome. Undaunted, Joker pulled out the God of a Thousand Demons, and pulled the trigger, firing a bullet at Ryu, who jumped over it, upon landing, he lunged forward with a Joudan Sokutougeri, and Joker barely dodged the big kick coming his way. Reappearing behind Ryu, Greninja hit him with a flying kick, sending Ryu into the ropes. Joker punched Ryu in the face once he had bounded off the ropes, and Greninja, upon transforming into his Ash-Greninja form, grabbed a nearby garbage can and punted it at Ryu, who got a face full of Gunk Shot. As Ryu wiped a banana peel off of his head, he looked back to see the kid in the mask summoning a large six-winged humanoid toting a large gunblade. Joker commanded Satanael to cast Maeigaon, the wave of dark energy washing over the World Warrior, knocking him down. As Ryu got up, he failed to notice the tatami that had been slid under him courtesy of Greninja. The Ninja Pokémon slammed his foot down on the mat, and the ensuing Mat Block flung Ryu up into the air. Jumping up, Greninja bombarded Ryu with a flurry of Power-Up Punches, before raising a watery kunai up and driving it into Ryu, sending him back down into the ground. The Water Shuriken on Greninja's back morphed into a pair of butterfly wings, and he gracefully fluttered back down to the ground.

Red had grabbed Diddy Kong by his shirt and dragged him down to the ring, where Little Mac was beginning to stir. The teenager sat up, clutching his head as best as he could, considering that he was wearing boxing gloves, and groaned, "Ugggh... what happened? The last thing I remember was being dumped in some strange room..."

Diddy Kong slapped Little Mac, and pulled out one of his signs, carving out a message that read, "Well, basically, the whole world got laser beamed, and now we need to pick up the pieces."

"Against what, that gigantic ball of light?"

Diddy nodded, but also wrote down, "I don't know if it's Tabuu or the Master Core again, though, they could be back for all I know."

Little Mac snatched his duffel bag off the floor, and undid the straps on his boxing gloves using his teeth, taking them off. After putting them into the bag, he slung the bag over his shoulder, and climbed into the ring, where he saw Greninja and some teenager around his age standing by an unconscious Ryu. Below, Red tossed the other translator earpiece he had bought at Mac, and when he turned around, he motioned for Mac to put the thing into his ear. Mac did so, and when he turned back around, he was able to fully capture what Greninja was saying.

 _"Mac, do you remember anything happening after you got zapped at the Craggy Outlook?"_

"I do remember being put in some strange room, but nothing past that... anyways, who's the other guy with you?"

Ren turned around, and when he saw Little Mac in front of him, his exterior as the Phantom Thief of Hearts had faded away, resulting in him geeking out, saying, "You're Mackie Davis, right?"

Mac nodded, and Ren continued, "You were our favorite Smasher when my friends and I watched the Super Smash Brothers tournament!" Fervently shaking his hand, he finished with, "I'm Ren Amamiya, though you can call me Joker. It's so nice to meet you!"

Mac, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, replied with, "I was your favorite? But I made so many dumb mistakes during the tournament..."

"Yeah, but that KO Uppercut of yours is the coolest thing ever!"

Flushing with a mixture of embarrassment and pride, Mac motioned for Joker and Greninja to haul Ryu out of the ring and into the locker room in the back. The two obliged, and Mac motioned for Red and Diddy to follow them as well.

* * *

Kirby and Mr. Game & Watch continued to where the source of the banjo music was coming from, and upon arriving, they saw Banjo and Kazooie, the former absently strumming away on his instrument, while the latter was engrossed in a handheld gaming device. Just as the duo took another step, however, Kirby stepped on a branch, breaking it, resulting in Banjo and Kazooie monotonously putting away their possessions and looking around for the source of the noise, with the two of them even splitting up to find the culprit. Kazooie turned a gravestone to a rubble simply by using her beak, while Banjo swung his backpack, which, much to Mr. Game & Watch's shock, blew apart the gravestone as if it was made of butter.

Just as the two were about to step away, however, Kazooie let out a loud screech, and in a sudden burst of movement, tackled Kirby and Mr. Game & Watch out into the open, where Banjo could easily see the both of them. Once Kazooie returned to the backpack, Banjo spotted the two of them and swung his backpack at them, and Mr. Game & Watch trampolined into the sky to dodge. Kirby simply inhaled the bag, and Banjo's expression turned into one of shock as he heard Kazooie making a commotion inside the puffball's mouth. Seeing Mr. Game & Watch descend while holding a bomb, he gave an uppercut to the two-dimensional man, knocking the bomb out of his hands and into the bear's. Expecting the bomb to not do anything, much to Banjo's surprise, it blew up, coating his face in ash. Kazooie's thrashing had finally gotten the better of Kirby's near-inescapable maw, and he spat out the backpack... straight back at its owner. The backpack hit Banjo right in the face, and he fell over, evidently knocked out. Pulling out his Hammer, Kirby cautiously approached the backpack, waiting for the crazy bird to pop out again. Mr. Game & Watch, having gotten himself down from a nearby tree, dragged Banjo behind a gravestone, and waited for him to wake up.

Banjo, sporting a lump on his head, groaned out, "D'oooohhh... what happened to me? And where's Kazooie?"

Mr Game & Watch held up a hand in warning, beeping, "Just wait. I don't think she's back to normal."

"Back to normal? Whaddaya mean?"

"Look at Kirby."

Banjo peered above the gravestone he was behind, and saw Kirby holding a flaming hammer, poised to strike his backpack. Before he could swing the hammer, however, Kazooie erupted out of the backpack, the Breegull sporting a maniacal expression on her face. She spat out a barrage of eggs at Kirby, who used the Hammer Flip he had been charging to bat them all back at her. The impact of the eggs caused Kazooie to fly into a nearby tree, and she slumped over, out for the count.

"Kazooie!"

Scooping up his backpack, Banjo ran over to where Kazooie was, picked her up, and stuffed her back into the backpack. After a while, she began to stir, saying, "Banjo, d'you have any idea what happened? The last thing I remember was being covered in some nasty liquid..."

"Guh, no, not really, Kazooie. We do have people to help us out, though!"

Kazooie, after taking a glance at Kirby and Mr. Game & Watch, brashly said, "So what're this puffball and flat-face capable of doing?"

Banjo did not provide an answer, and instead followed Kirby and Mr. Game & Watch out of the graveyard that he and Kazooie had been trapped in.

* * *

 _"Tell me once more, Master Hand. To whom is your allegiance sworn to?"_

Master Hand said, "To yours and yours only, Lord Galeem."

 _"Then why on earth were you TALKING with that stupid teenager?!"_

Master Hand shot back, "Do I have any reason not to?"

A low chuckle reverberated through the room as Galeem pulled out the construct of light that housed Crazy Hand.

"Oh, hello, brother!"

 _"I'll give you a choice, Master Hand. Either you undergo a full brainwashing, or your brother over here gets banished to the Dark Realm. Since the ruler of that particular domain is currently imprisoned, I'll simply be leaving your brother to rot and be forgotten."_

Master Hand cracked his knuckles in frustration, but made his decision.

"I shall undergo this brainwashing you speak of to spare my brother."

 _"Perfect! Tabuu, restrain him."_

Master Hand recoiled in horror as best as he could. The leader of the Subspace Army was back once more? Before he could continue with that train of thought, however, he felt several sharp, stabbing pains in his knuckles.

Tabuu floated above holding the Chains of Light, his normally stoic face now displaying a cold, cruel smile. His voice, a heavily distorted and warped one, rang throughout the room, saying, _"I've done this once before, what made you think that I couldn't do it again?"_

Galeem, contrary to his promise, opened up a rift that led to the Dark Realm, and chucked Crazy Hand's cage into the rift, sealing it back up once he confirmed that the destructive left hand had vanished.

 _"Now... SLEEP."_

Though his mind was addled with a mixture of rage and grief, Master Hand succumbed to the voice of the core of light, and his vision went black.

* * *

 **Holy yikes, this chapter's got some bombshells. Tabuu's somehow still alive, the Hands are as good as gone, Galeem's got Shadow Bugs so he can basically recreate the Subspace Army... it may not seem immediately dire for our heroes, but the fact that the Subspace Army can be infinitely replicated may spell disaster for them at a later time.**

 **Mackie Davis. Yeah, I'm admittedly not very good at names.**

 **It's a tad upsetting that Mad Monster Mansion can't be found in this neck of the woods...**


	13. Blackout Brawl

**I'm not exactly aiming for 1:1 fidelity (as if it wasn't obvious), so that means some Smashers that are normally found in the Dark Realm will be in the World of Light, and vice versa.**

* * *

Having gotten past Stark Mountain, Reversal Mountain, Mt. Chimney, and Blush Mountain in about half a day, Snake, Isaac, Cloud, and Wario had set up camp right outside the Hokulani Observatory to rest and recharge before storming the laboratory inside. Isaac, who was currently bunking with Cloud, as Snake opted to sleep alone and no one wanted to bunk with Wario, asked, "Did you... ever lose anyone on your quest?"

Cloud, silently contemplating over whether he should answer, instead began to polish his Buster Sword and rearranged his Materia as he saw fit, with his Buster Sword getting the Master Magic and All Materia, and fitting the bracelets on his hands with Summon Master, Enemy Skill, Magic Plus, and MP Plus Materia. Once he had finished, he simply told the Adept, "Yes, I did. I'd rather not talk about it."

 _"Tell him, Cloud. Tell him about the time that I murdered Aerith in cold blood."_

Cloud let out an involuntary growl, which caused Isaac to look at Cloud in concern, asking, "Is something wrong?" Cloud shook his head, and Isaac also began rearranging his Djinn for a better Class, also contemplating on whether to use the Class-changing items that Felix had given him shortly before he had left.

Snake, meanwhile, had planted a C4 on the doors of the observatory, as much to his surprise, not even Wario was able to break the door when they had first arrived. Rigging the detonator to go off the next morning, he simply crawled back into his sleeping bag and peacefully watched the ongoing Minior shower before falling asleep.

Wario simply slept like a rock throughout the night.

* * *

The next morning, Snake's C4 went off, blowing apart the door and acting like a makeshift alarm clock for everyone else. Wario rolled out of the tent, dusted off his overalls, and ate a clove of garlic, while Isaac and Cloud stumbled out of their tent, the both of them still getting ready. Once the whole group was ready, Snake said, "Okay, just keep your eyes open for any Spirit Orbs in there, and if you see another Smasher, do NOT hesitate in trying to get them back. Is that understood?"

Everyone, even Wario, nodded.

* * *

 **"ANTI-VIRUS DIAGNOSTIC SOFTWARE RUNNING... SCANNING FOR VIRUSES. VIRUS FOUND. FILE NAME: GLEAM. EXECUTING ANTI-VIRUS PROTOCOL... ANTI-VIRUS PROTOCOL HAS BEEN COMPLETED. GLEAM HAS BEEN PURGED FROM YOUR FILES. HAVE A NICE DAY, ROCK."**

* * *

As the group of Smashers stepped into Hokulani Observatory, their first impression was that it was dark. Pulling out his flashlight, Snake began looking for a circuit breaker, and the others began searching the building. As soon as Cloud entered a room, he was intercepted by a Spirit Orb, and the door shut behind him with a rather loud slam.

* * *

Cloud touched down in a large stadium with a symbol he recognized as the Poké Ball, and internally groaned when he saw his opponent. Incineroar, wearing a red, blue, yellow, and green mask, posed for the crowd, who showered him in cheers and applause. Fixing his eyes on Cloud, the Pokémon roared before charging at him. Just as Cloud was about to dodge, Incineroar, with a shocking burst of speed, grabbed Cloud, and hurled him into some ropes that the the ex-SOLDIER swore were not there before. The lariat after Incineroar's Alolan Whip hit true, and Cloud heard something crunch before being launched across the stadium.

Casting Curaja on himself, he strapped the Buster Sword to his back and summoned Ramuh. The ancient wizard, once called upon, cast Judgement Bolt, and Incineroar was zapped by numerous bolts of lightning. However, the Heel Pokémon had used Revenge at the last possible moment, and now his body was coated in a shroud of fire due to the sheer power of the attack. As Cloud pondered what that meant, the Incineroar had begun a full-on sprint towards him. Dodging, Cloud began using Limit Charge, the process being relatively quick due to his Limit having increased exponentially after that beginning lariat. Now that his Limit had finally reached its maximum, Cloud jumped from the platform he was standing on, and performed an overhead slash on Incineroar, who, despite stumbling, managed to grab Cloud. Turning him around, Incineroar arched back and dropped Cloud on his neck, performing a German suplex. Once again, Cloud heard something crunch before he was sent flying.

In spite of the pain, Cloud summoned Leviathan, and the massive serpent rose from the depths of the stadium before roaring to the heavens. Behind it, a humongous column of water rose up, and Cloud cast Big Guard right as the wave of water crashed onto the stadium, sweeping Incineroar into the abyss and drenching the crowd. When the water finally stopped pouring down, there was a Spirit Orb where Incineroar once stood. Letting down the Big Guard, Cloud grabbed the Spirit Orb, and felt a jerk in his navel before being pulled back.

* * *

Upon his return to Hokulani Observatory, Cloud heard an alarm sound through a building, and a voice from what he assumed were intercoms repeated, **"INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT."** Cloud kicked down the door, and when he looked down the hallway, it was still as dark as ever, with the Spirit Orb he was holding being the only source of light.

Isaac opened yet another door, and in this room, there appeared to be absolutely nothing, save for a massive tangle of wires. Before he could leave, however, the door slammed shut behind him, and the intercom sounded with, **"INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT."** Isaac then cast Fireball, and held the ball of flame out in front of him to try and get a grasp of his surroundings. Turning the orb of fire towards the wires, he almost stopped casting Fireball in shock of what he discovered: While there were wires everywhere, they housed a small blue robot on the inside, whose eyes were flickering between blue and green before finally settling on green.

Panicking, Isaac tried to open the door, to no avail, and a voice behind him said, **"Variable Weapons System online."**

Mega Man broke free of the wires and switched weapons to the Crystal Eye, firing a chunk of crystal at the Adept. Isaac dodged, and the crystal split apart upon hitting the wall, resulting in three smaller crystals haphazardly bouncing around the room. Switching weapons, the Blue Bomber fired a Noise Crush, emitting a horrible screeching sound that manifested itself in the form of several rings. Isaac dodged, but his ears were left ringing from exposure to the attack. The sound waves bounced off the wall and back towards Mega Man, who instead of faltering, glowed with an eerie purple light before firing another Noise Crush, the second one being even louder than the previous one. Isaac put his hands over his ears, finding the cacophony unbearable. Mega Man then ran up and blasted the Adept with the Mega Upper, knocking Isaac into one of the ceiling lights.

Upon changing his Mega Buster back to regular hands and flashing red, the Power Gear activated and Mega Man switched to the Tundra Storm, slamming his hands into the ground, and the room was spontaneously flash frozen. As Isaac tried to get up, he was having trouble finding footing on the ice, and he slipped and fell on his butt. Mega Man fired several Water Balloons, and instead of aiming at Isaac, he simply let them burst all over the floor. Before he could switch to the Lightning Bolt, however, Isaac had cast an Inferno all around him, the heat melting all of the ice in the room. Undaunted, Mega Man switched to the Water Shield, and a massive bubble of water surrounded him, forming a barrier of sorts. Isaac switched to the Jupiter Druid class, and simply fired a Blue Bolt at the bubble. The electrified water ball splashed onto Mega Man, whose eyes started to once again rapidly alternate between green and blue as the alien programming began to lose its hold over the Blue Bomber. Rock's eyes, though they reverted to their normal blue, appeared to be clouded over. Isaac blasted the door apart with a Carpet Bomb, and he dragged Mega Man out of the room.

Snake had finally fixed the circuit breaker, and all around the observatory, the lights began to come to life. Wario stumbled out of a room, his hair standing on end from what the mercenary assumed was an electric shock. Cloud, upon seeing the lights turn on, put away the Spirit Orb he had been using as a makeshift flashlight, and a sopping wet Isaac who was dragging Mega Man down the hallway passed him shortly after.

Isaac got to Snake first, and gingerly passed Rock to him. Snake, staring at him in confusion, grabbed a nearby toolbox and began to try and fix the robot's limbs. Cloud and Wario arrived next, the both of them holding Spirit Orbs, which flew into the pouch that Snake kept on his belt.

Later, Mega Man's eyes finally reverted back to normal, and the Blue Bomber moved his limbs to try and get some metaphorical sense back into them. Looking around, he saw Wario, Cloud, Snake, and that blonde kid with magic powers staring at him. Snake, putting away a toolbox, grunted, "Welcome back, kid."

Wario let out a cackle, saying, "Blondie over there says you're quite the fighter. Prove it to me!"

Mega Man did so by pulling out a Metal Blade and a Wheel Cutter, shooting back with, "So, do you want your death to be slow and painful or quick and painful?"

That shut the treasure hunter up quickly. Letting out a small laugh, Cloud said, "Don't worry about him, you remember what he was like at the fourth tournament, right?"

Mega Man gave a small nod, and turned to Isaac, who gave a sheepish wave. Mega Man simply held out his hand, saying, "Good fight earlier."

Isaac shook his hand right back, replying with, "Yeah, it was pretty tough fighting something I've never seen in my life..."

A loud clatter interrupted them, and the four of them turned to look at the source of the noise. Wario had punched a hole through one of the walls, and yelled back, "Do we have anything for snow? Wario hates the cold! It's not good for my buttocks!"

Though the rest of the group cringed in disgust, they walked over to where Wario was, and Isaac pulled out the leaflet once more, passing it to Mega Man. The robot scanned the map, registering it in his memory banks, and said, "The next mountain we have to go to is Mount Silver, which also houses a portion of Mount Coronet."

Undeterred, Wario punched an even larger hole in the wall, and the group walked outside to see that their next destination was shrouded in snow, connected to Mount Hokulani by a wooden bridge. After some preparation, the Smashers began to walk on the bridge, hoping to get to the end of the Pokémon Mountain Pass.

* * *

Galeem felt a slight twinge of anger upon seeing the group of Snake, Mega Man, Isaac, Wario, and Cloud walking towards Mt. Silver, but quickly regained his composure. Turning back, he boomed out, _"KING K. ROOL AND META KNIGHT!"_

Both possessed Smashers walked towards the massive core of light, and mindlessly droned, _"Yes, Lord Galeem?"_

 _"I want the both of you to go to the Pokémon Mountain Pass... and drop Shadow Bugs there. Not just a large concentration in the area, I want you two to DROWN the last two mountains in Shadow Bugs. Is that understood?"_

King K. Rool and Meta Knight nodded, and Galeem flashed a bright white light, sending the two of them to the Flying Krock and the Halberd respectively.

* * *

 **So, anyone have any Spirit ideas? I need some more _Final Fantasy_ Spirits from games that aren't _VI_.**

 **The Spirit that Cloud squares off against is meant to represent the Masked Royal, and Wario's is supposed to be a Vikavolt. The Masked Royal Spirit is capable of being enhanced into Professor Kukui, and the Vikavolt Spirit is actually Pichu with a Rocket Belt.**

 **As for Mega Man, he was a total blast to write. Special Weapons used include the Crystal Eye from _Mega Man 5_ , the Noise Crush from _Mega Man 7_ , _Mega Man 8_ 's Water Balloon, the Tundra Storm from _Mega Man 11_ , and _Mega Man 10_ 's Water Shield. The Lightning Bolt from _Mega Man and Bass_ is also mentioned, and among other weapons, I considered the Wheel Cutter (Nitro Man), the Break Dash (Pluto), the Thunder Claw (Clown Man), the Flash Bomb (Grenade Man), the Jewel Satellite (Jewel Man), the Dive Missile (Dive Man), the Centaur Flash (Centaur Man), and the Oil Slider (Oil Man).**

 **If you wish, please submit Spirit ideas to me via PM. While I am specifically looking for _Final Fantasy_ Spirits (aside from _VI_ ), Spirits from other games such as _Persona_ , _Sonic the Hedgehog_ , _Super Mario_ , ****_Banjo-Kazooie_** **, and _Golden Sun_ among others will be greatly appreciated.**

 **Apologies for the butchered programming speak, the Doc Manager just randomly deletes .EXE, for some reason.**


	14. Dualities

**Well, I do have another _Final Fantasy_ Spirit made: Lightning Farron.**

 **She's represented by pink Robin with a permanent Levin Sword, who also starts with a Super Scope and has drastically increased movement speed.**

 **Will that Spirit be in this chapter? No.**

* * *

"Wait, so the whole world is gone?"

Donkey Kong nodded, and Mario continued, "Yeah, and from-a what we've seen, every other world's been-a tagged as well. So there-a _might_ be someone from-a your world here as a Spirit, one of-a those floating balls of light in here. See?" raising the Spirit Pouch for dramatic effect.

Matthew's face paled at the thought of seeing Tyrell and Karis, among others, being forced into those small orbs of light, not even in their own bodies. Sheathing the Sol Blade, he stood up and began to walk out of the village, despite Mario and Donkey Kong's warnings, and ended up getting blindsided by a Spirit Orb.

* * *

Faceplanting on the stained glass floor of the Kalos Pokémon League, Matthew sat up, and found himself face-to-face with a dragon that he identified as that big fire lizard he had met at the Newcomer Ceremony, Charizard. However, instead of being orange, this Charizard was deep red, much larger than usual, and had a constant stream of fire pouring out from its mouth. Charizard achieved liftoff, shooting towards the roof of the chamber, and used Sunny Day, creating a miniature globe of fire that dramatically increased the temperature in the room. Letting out a cry that sounded like a mix between a roar and a bell, Charizard launched a star of fire from its mouth, which was amplified by the miniature sun inside the room.

Matthew summoned Brick, and the Djinni frantically scrambled to create a wall as the Fire Blast came closer and closer. Once the barrier was deemed satisfactory by Matthew, the Djinni disappeared, and Matthew took cover behind the wall as the Fire Blast slammed into the wall, blew it apart, and released a scorching wave of heat. When the heat died down, Matthew was mostly unharmed, yet smothered in ash. Matthew used Stone Spire, and above the Charizard, rocks began to fall. After obliterating one with Dynamic Punch, Charizard batted another one back to its sender using Iron Tail. Using the Sol Blade like a bat, Matthew unleashed a Megiddo and smacked it in Charizard's general direction, before dodging the rock that Charizard had sent at him. Before he could follow up, Charizard's eyes flashed pink, and Matthew collapsed to the ground in agony, the Extrasensory causing a pain that felt like someone was trying to cut apart his brain.

Since the Charizard was smart enough that he couldn't blast it with rock, as well as being at such a high temperature that he couldn't freeze it out of the sky, Matthew switched to his last resort: lightning. Switching to the Master class, he snapped his fingers, and storm clouds appeared to blot out the glowing sun that was just powering up Charizard's Fire-type attacks. The rumble of thunder snapped it out of its thoughts, and it let out its cry once more before firing a Sacred Fire at Matthew, the electric blue stream of flames rushing towards the Adept. Matthew used Shell, and the Mercury Djinni came to his aid, creating a protective barrier around him.

The Sacred Fire hit its target, rising up in a spire of colorful flame. However, thanks to Shell, Matthew was mostly unharmed, and he fired a Thunder Mine at Charizard. The ball lightning began zipping around the chamber erratically, and Charizard started flying faster to try and dodge it, and while a lightning bolt from Matthew's Thunderhead managed to hit him, he managed to use Sunny Day, and the storm clouds Matthew summoned vanished, replaced by the sun Charizard had made earlier in the battle.

However, the Thunder Mine was still flying around, and it managed to hit the burly Fire-type right in the back, causing Charizard to fall straight down, crashing onto the floor with a resounding thud. Much to Matthew's amazement and frustration, Charizard stood up once more, its entire body glowing red and wrapped in a shroud of fire. Realizing that something bad was about to happen, Matthew used Chasm, and the Djinni opened up a black hole, ready to absorb the attack.

Charizard used Burn Up, and it exploded, resembling a miniature supernova. While Chasm absorbed most of the attack, Matthew smelled something burning, and saw that his pants were beginning to smolder, quickly stamping it out. When the attack was done, Matthew saw that Charizard was no longer breathing fire, with Burn Up having purged the Fire-typing from it. Matthew zapped him using Thunderclap, and then switched to the Slayer class, using Odyssey to finish the job. Five glowing swords struck Charizard, followed by a sixth and final sword being driven into it, causing the other five to explode. Charizard slumped over, its eyes vacant and glassy, before glowing with a bright multicolored light. Matthew shielded his eyes, and once the light stopped, all that remained was a large Spirit Orb that housed a large songbird that Matthew thought resembled the Phoenix in the stories that his parents used to tell him when he was a child. Touching it, the orb emitted a blinding white light that engulfed his vision.

* * *

Mario and Donkey Kong hauled up the disoriented teenager, who mumbled something along the lines of, "Sweet merciful Sol, what happened in there?" Mario and Donkey Kong silently agreed to tell the teenager later, and Donkey Kong hauled Matthew out of the wrecked village, Mario leading the two of them.

With night having fallen upon the World of Light, Mario and Donkey Kong decided to set up camp. Matthew, having woken up from his short nap, looked to see Mario cooking food inside a tent, as well as Donkey Kong sitting right next to him. Donkey Kong tapped him on the shoulder, and began communicating in sign language. Matthew, having been taught by his father, saw it as, "Look, if Mario starts asking questions about who you are and where you came from, don't be worried. Since he's the de facto leader of the Smashers, it's his job to gather information from all newcomers so that our library can be updated. He knows most of the newcomers this time: We met the Inklings and Isabelle at one of the Mario Kart competitions, Daisy he's known for a very long time, he fought Ridley in Subspace, that Kremling scumbag played at the last baseball event we held, the Piranha Plant is an everyday sight for him, Geno fought alongside him many years ago, and I introduced him to Banjo after the first Smash tournament. That leaves Dark Samus, Chrom, Ken, Incineroar, as well as you and your father as the fighters he doesn't know."

Matthew, dumbfounded at this sudden information dump, said, "Wow. He takes his job seriously, huh?"

Donkey Kong nodded, and at that moment, Mario walked out of the tent with three steaming bowls of food, saying, "Dinner's ready!" The three hungry Smashers dug in, cleaning the bowls in a manner of minutes.

While Matthew and Donkey Kong were sound asleep, Mario was tossing and turning in his sleeping bag, memories of the past haunting him in his sleep…

* * *

 _Mario looked around him to see that Toad Town was absolutely demolished, with there being almost no trace of life in the town. Walking around, he surveyed the destruction wrought upon the town, and began feeling worse and worse after passing by every house that appeared in a state of ruin. After a while, he bumped into a tree. Groaning in pain, when he did take a good look at it, he screamed in horror upon seeing a Toad strapped to the tree, looking almost dead._

 _"Where were you… Mario? You were supposed to protect… us…"_

 _An energy blast appeared out of nowhere and struck the Toad, turning it into a squat purple mushroom, and Mario took that as a cue to run. Running out of Toad Town and towards Peach's Castle, he stopped when he heard someone yell out, "Bro!"_

 _Slamming on the brakes, he turned around and saw Luigi running towards him, tears freely streaming down his face. Panting as he came to a stop, Luigi choked out, "Bro… it's horrible… remember those crazy aliens from a long time ago? Someone thawed them out of Bowser's Castle, and now they're attacking the entire Mushroom Land! Sarasaland is gone… as is Daisy… Stefano's clinic was burned to the ground, and now they're attacking Peach's Castle!"_

 _Mario paled, as he realized which aliens Luigi was referring to. Putting on a mask of calm, he asked, "But what about-a Elvin? He helped us last time, maybe he-a…"_

 _"I checked Evershade Valley too, Mario. He's gone."_

 _"Baby tears?"_

 _"They kidnapped all the babies in the Mushroom Land so that it couldn't happen again."_

 _Mario, though his resolve was thoroughly shaken after hearing that, put up a brave face, and told Luigi, "We've-a gotta save Peach, let's-a go!"_

 _"Um… Mario?"_

 _Mario turned around, and almost fainted on the spot. A Shroob UFO had snuck up on them during their conversation, and now it was abducting Luigi, presumably for experimentation of some kind. Frantically jumping up and trying to grab his brother to pull him down, his attempts were fruitless, and Luigi was carried off into parts unknown, screaming, "MAAAAAAAAAARIIIIOOOOOOO!"_

 _His will completely broken, Mario sunk to his knees, despairing to no one in particular, "Who could've done-a this?"_

 _"I believe that if you look behind you, you will find the culprit, you stupid red rat-fink!"_

 _Mario's jaw almost dropped upon hearing that voice. Turning around, he saw Fawful, free of the Dark Star's influence, standing on his hovercraft. Managing to find his voice once more, he spluttered out, "B-but how are-a you still alive?"_

 _"Fawful will not answer the moron who continues to inhale stupidity sandwiches like the pink blob of hunger!"_

 _At that, Fawful vanished, and Antasma materialized behind Mario, hissing out, "Vell, vell, vell, if it isn't Mario, scree!"_

 _"Wha- you too?!"_

 _"Yes, and now vat your pushover of a brother is as good as dead, I have vree reign over the Dream World!"_

 _Antasma then turned into a swarm of bats, and flew straight at Mario..._

* * *

Mario woke up in a cold sweat, and looked around frantically. There were no signs of whatever he had seen in his nightmares, but now, he was restless, despite it being the middle of the night. Crawling out of his sleeping bag, he sat down on a nearby log, and contemplated what he had seen in his dream. The Shroobs... unfrozen? He was also certain that Fawful and Antasma had died as well, Fawful's fate being more unambiguous. But with the presence of the King of Nightmares in his dream, now he was not so sure about if Antasma had really died.

Donkey Kong and Matthew both woke up the following morning refreshed, and the two of them stared in puzzlement at Mario, who was quietly muttering to himself. Clearing his throat, Matthew asked, "Mario? You there?" Mario turned around, and both Donkey Kong and Matthew jumped back in alarm.

Mario looked like a total mess. His hair was disheveled, eyes bloodshot, and mustache uncombed. Donkey Kong signed, "What the hell happened last night?"

"Crazy nightmare… couldn't sleep."

After another three hours, Mario had cleaned himself up, and the three of them continued north, before reaching a fork in the road, the left path leading to a place that resembled Palutena's Temple, and a snowy mountain to the right. After a bit of deliberation, they decided to head left, as they felt that they had a chance at finding Pit in the temple. Upon arriving at the front door of the temple, the doors flew open, and a vortex sucked the three of them in.

The door spit out the three Smashers, and once they got up, they looked around in amazement. Around them, the inside of the temple appeared to be situated up in the sky, since the clouds were below them, and there were numerous pillars and statues that looked like they had been scorched or mangled. Pressing on, they saw that the area was mostly empty, the most shocking thing being the total lack of Spirit Orbs in the area. Donkey Kong suddenly grabbed Mario and Matthew, having seen something that neither of them did, and flung them on top of a pillar. Behind a partially burned statue of Palutena, Simon Belmont, the wielder of the holy Vampire Killer whip, stepped out into the open and brandished his weapon at the ape. Simon, in a voice that was oddly robotic, uttered, _"I am a member of the Belmont clan, sworn by blood to fight Count Dracula and the darkness of the night. What quarrel do you have with the Radiant One?"_

Donkey Kong simply shrugged and began winding up his arm, charging up his Giant Punch. As Simon tried to take a crack at him using his whip, he stopped charging and rolled out of the way. Procuring a vial of Holy Water, he flung it at the ape, but DK caught it out of the air and chucked it into the clouds below. Throwing a Cross at him instead, DK rolled out of the way as the Cross reached him, but failed to account for the fact that it functioned like a boomerang, and he was knocked to the floor. The vampire hunter now stood over him, axe in hand. Tauntingly, he sneered, _"I suppose it was a good effort. Wasted, though."_

Just as he was about to bring an axe down on DK, he got smacked in the face by chunks of what _was_ a pillar, and he whirled around, looking for the culprit. Matthew stepped out from behind a pillar, and Simon thoughtfully observed, _"I sense the brightest of lights within you... but at the same time, I also sense the darkest of nights. Just_ what _are you?"_ Matthew shrugged helplessly, not wanting to tell him about the Grave Eclipse and the Mourning Moon, and Mario stepped out of his hiding place as well. Turning to the plumber, Simon said, _"You... you have had a glimpse of darkness, have you not?"_

Mario wordlessly nodded, wondering how he had known about the Dark Star, before slipping his hand into his overalls to grab a power-up. Pulling out the Metal Cap, he transformed into Metal Mario, and he began walking towards Simon. Switching to the Paladin class, Matthew used Mad Blast to pressure Simon, and the vampire hunter cracked the whip in front of him, narrowly missing Matthew by about an inch.

Steadily, Mario was getting closer.

Donkey Kong had jumped back into the fight, and had performed a massive stomp on Simon, knocking him to the floor. Matthew switched to the Ronin class, and cast Epicenter, resulting in a massive dragon made of fire circling around the battlefield before striking Simon. Deciding to call upon a Summon, he summoned Atalanta, the huntress appearing in the sky above him, readying her bolts of wind. Looking up, Matthew gave her the thumbs-up to fire, and Atalanta giggled before letting her idea of justice rain from up above. Simon looked up to see something resembling arrows raining down all around him, and he threw up a shield to protect himself. The bolts of wind crashed down around Simon, and several more obliterated his shield, leaving him stunned. Mario had finally reached the vampire hunter, and he threw a punch, which, with a glove made of solid metal, blasted Simon across the floor. Getting up, he didn't notice Donkey Kong standing right behind him, and felt a crushing pain at the back of his head, being flung into a pillar.

Matthew ran towards the thoroughly knocked out Simon, switching to the Slayer class, and he used Potent Cure to bring the vampire hunter back up to full strength. After a bit, Simon woke up, clutching his head in pain. Disoriented, he groaned, "What in God's name...?"

Matthew cut him off, saying, "World ended. We're stuck in some crazy maze."

Mario, having taken off the Metal Cap, walked up, and asked, "We're-a looking for Pit. Have-a you seen an angel around-a here somewhere?"

Simon thought about what he had managed to see before encountering the three of them, and he replied, "I think there's one at the end of the temple?"

"Well, we should be going there now, don't you think?"

Simon nodded and beckoned for them to continue, and the four of them continued to explore the rubble that made up Palutena's temple.

* * *

Upon reaching the end of the temple, the four of them looked at what was in front of them. A humongous statue of Palutena, perfectly intact, unlike most of the statues in here. Mario went closer to investigate out of curiosity, but was stopped when a Light Arrow shot by him, barely grazing his fingertips. Donkey Kong pointed to the side, and there, Pit stood, holding Palutena's Bow in a position that indicated that he was ready to fire. Pit called out, _"What's up, losers?"_

Mario, Matthew, Donkey Kong, and Simon all turned to face Pit. Simon brandished his whip before pulling it taut, Matthew unsheathed the Sol Blade and slung it over his shoulder, Donkey Kong punched the ground in challenge, and Mario ignited his fists. Pit let the arrow fly, before yelling, _"Come forth, Fortitudo, and unleash your wrath on these sorry fools!"_

Behind the five of them, a shadow rose, gradually growing bigger and bigger. The four not-possessed Smashers turned around, and Matthew exclaimed, "What the _fuck_ is that?!" Simon gave Matthew a disapproving glare, but the looks on Mario and Donkey Kong's faces echoed Matthew's words. Flying in front of them was a massive two-headed dragon, which, instead of having a proper body, had a head that resembled the head of a stone statue.

The dragon, which apparently went by Fortitudo, said, _"Ah, good day to you... what is this? I sense great darkness from one of your number."_ Turning to Simon, he observed, _"Yes... you have slain many creatures of darkness in the name of the light... I commend your efforts."_ As Simon glared at the dragon with a mutinous expression, Fortitudo looked at Donkey Kong, saying, _"I sense... mostly light from you. Though your past is somewhat muddled, you still remain a Child of Light_ _."_ Now looking at Mario, he said, _"Another Child of Light, interesting... though you are aligned with the light, I sense that you have had an encounter with darkness before, is that right?"_

Finally, looking at Matthew, the dragon's normally stoic demeanor changed to one of anger, booming out, _"YOU! You are the one who has brought darkness to this realm! Yes, I sense it within you, but... you are also blessed by the light. What is the meaning of this?"_

Matthew raised his sword, not saying a word. Fortitudo let out a low, rumbling laugh before both dragon heads spit out one fireball each. Donkey Kong leapt up onto the dragon in an attempt to fight it, and Mario pulled out his Cape, ready to play support, but Simon pulled out a Clock and pushed a little button, causing everything but themselves to be frozen in time. Mario, seeing an opportunity, visualized a plan for Matthew, who reacted with a knowing grin. Pulling out a Mix Flower, Mario started throwing fireballs into the air, all of which combined to make a single large fireball. Mario called for Simon to unfreeze time on his instructions, and for Donkey Kong to jump off the dragon on his signal. Both of them nodded in response, and Mario looked at Matthew, who nodded, indicating that he was ready. Signaling Simon and Donkey Kong, the former unfroze time, and the latter jumped off Fortitudo, with Simon also sneak attacking Pit for good measure.

Mario yelled out, _**"FIRE!"** _and Matthew unleashed Megiddo, hurling it into the gargantuan fireball that Mario had created, dramatically increasing the heat in the area. Mario ran underneath the fireball, jumped up, and spiked it right at Fortitudo.

* * *

 **And so it begins! I had a lot of fun writing Mario's nightmare, considering it's meant to act as foreshadowing and a love letter to the RPGs. The Spirit for this chapter is Ho-Oh, whose moveset is an amalgamation between Charizard's and Ho-Oh's. (Dynamic Punch can be taught to Charizard via TM in GSC, Iron Tail is a Tutor move, Sacred Fire is Ho-Oh's signature move, and it can learn Extrasensory and Burn Up in USUM)**

 **If you've never played _Golden Sun: Dark_** ** _Dawn_** **, then I'll have you know that Matthew's… a little bit of a pottymouth.**

 **The "Palutena's Temple" is meant to be a mix of that and Paradiso.**

 **Also yes, let's give Simon Witch Time (with the Clock) and see how that goes.**

 **Lastly, "Child of Light" is meant to refer to the seven Star Children. Galeem and his minions only see a blinding light in them, hence why they are called that.**


	15. Navel Maneuvers

**Hey, we're on Chapter 15!**

 _ **"Remember that promise I made to you and Luigi all those years ago, cugino? You know, 'I'm with you to the bitter end?' Well, it's time for me to make good on that."**_

* * *

Joker, accompanying Red and Greninja, took the northern exit of Lumiose City, while Diddy Kong, Little Mac, and Ryu went south to explore the other city that was after the southern border. Watching the other three leave, Joker asked Red, "Do you think that we'll see them again?"

Red curtly replied with, "They'll be back sooner or later." As soon as they walked past the city's checkpoint, they were greeted with a hellish landscape of volcanoes and lava... plus a small doctor's clinic off to the side.

Greninja said, _"Maybe we should go into the clinic for medical supplies, considering that we're in a volcanic environment and all..."_

"I could use some Burn Heals..."

Entering the clinic, Joker was unnerved by the fact that the place looked an awful lot like Tae's clinic back in Tokyo, but he still pressed forward. The clinic was spotless, worryingly so, and Greninja tensed up when he heard whistling in the back room. Cautioning the two teenagers, he croaked, _"When the time comes to fight whatever it is, if it's a Smasher, I want NON-LETHAL FORCE. Understood?"_

Red and Joker nodded, and the three of them pressed forward, only for a scalpel to cut clean through a door in front of them and embed itself in the wall. Carefully pulling the door open, Joker yelped in surprise as a crazed Dr. Mario leaped out from behind it in an attempted ambush. Pulling out the God of a Thousand Demons, Joker fired a point-blank shot at the mad doctor, but Dr. Mario simply swung his Super Sheet upwards, deflecting the bullet into the ceiling. Greninja first struck with Low Kick, tripping up the doctor, before following up with two Power-Up Punches. Dr. Mario responded by grabbing a nearby defibrillator and charging it up with the electricity that crackled from his hands, before throwing the supercharged item at Red, who yelped and then ducked the defibrillator to avoid getting shocked. Joker lunged forward with Paradise Lost, but Dr. Mario threw up his shield and perfectly parried the attack, responding with a spinning clothesline, a move he had jokingly dubbed the 'Dr. Tornado' all the way back in the second tournament.

Greninja, having teleported behind Dr. Mario, kicked the doctor in the back, sending him into the chairs of the waiting room. Freeing the scalpel from the wall, Dr. Mario yelled, _"Get over here so that I can dissect you!"_

Red reached for one of his Poké Balls and clicked the button, causing Charizard to materialize in a flash. Charging up a Thunder Punch, Charizard blasted the doctor in the back, sending him right through the door and into a desk. Clicking Ivysaur's Poké Ball, he told her to use Vine Whip to restrain him, and she obeyed, lashing out vines that bound him in place.

After about an hour, Dr. Mario opened his eyes, and saw a teenager pointing a gun at him as well as Greninja and Charizard readying Night Slash and Ancient Power respectively. Yelping, he squirmed in Ivysaur's grasp, yelling out, "Let me go!"

Greninja stopped preparing his Night Slash, and the dark kunai disappeared into thin air before he grabbed a whiteboard and markers from the area of the clinic that was miraculously unscathed, and wrote down, _"What's your name?"_

"Stefano Mario!"

 _"When did you first become a Smasher?"_

"The Melee tournament!"

 _"Show me your Fighter Pass."_

Ivysaur loosened her grip on him, and Dr. Mario pulled out the Fighter Pass that was undeniable proof of him being a Smasher. Sure enough, it was a black and grey card (each Smasher had a customized card) which had an 18 on it.

 _"Ivysaur, let him go._ _"_

Ivysaur released the doctor, and Stefano dusted off his coat before saying, "When you're possessed, you're perfectly aware of what you're doing, but you can't do anything about it. Was that the case for anyone here?"

Red and Greninja raised their hands, and Dr. Mario continued, "Well, if we're looking outside right now, I see a lot of Kab-ombs, and that means one thing: Grumble Volcano's blown its top once more."

Joker, who had been mostly silent, said, "We're looking for Bowser's Castle, and we heard it was at the end of this volcanic wasteland."

"Well, looks like you're gonna need a guide." After dumping every last bit of medicine he could find into Red's backpack, the ragtag group set off for Bowser's Castle.

Walking along the ground, Red asked the doctor, "How is it that you know so much about the Mushroom Kingdom?"

"Kid, I live there!"

"But you don't go on adventures like Mario and Luigi do..."

"Well, when you're the cousin of quite possibly the most famous and popular figures in the history of the Mushroom Kingdom, you're bound to learn a lot from them."

Once they had finally gotten far enough, Stefano leaped up onto a nearby rock and surveyed the area. Bowser's Castle was still a long ways off, and in front of them was where the troubles they would face were located. A gaggle of Kab-ombs saw the doctor, and began aggressively chattering before heading to his location. Just as Stefano's fists began crackling with electricity, Red sent out Charizard, and the burly dragon took flight before throwing an Ancient Power at the group of Kab-ombs, flattening them underneath the bunch of Fossils Charizard had unearthed. Looking back, Dr. Mario flashed a thumbs-up to Red, but the ground suddenly began to rumble, and then a massive roar that seemed like it had come from the earth reverberated through the hellish landscape.

"Oh, crap... RUN!" Everyone heeded the doctor's advice, and made a break for it, running through the wasteland, dodging fireballs and volcanic debris of various sizes, with Red's team providing cover fire for the Smashers on the ground. A squadron of Hammer Bros., Boomerang Bros., Fire Bros., and Sledge Bros., all led by the Army Hammer Bro, were watching the seven of them make a break for Bowser's Castle, and the Army Hammer Bro smirked before pulling out his walkie-talkie.

* * *

"Your Scaliness, we appear to have seven Smashers on the way, and from the looks of it, Mario's leading them!"

The Koopa King, or whatever was possessing him, snarled, _"Grr... man the defenses, get the Elite Trio on standby, and DO NOT forget the last resort!"_

"Understood, Your Hotheadedness!"

Bowser snapped his fingers, and a multitude of Spirit Orbs, ones that Bowser had been granted control of by the Radiant One, dispersed all over the castle. Looking up, he smirked upon seeing his two prisoners, one of which was that pesky green plumber who had just as much darkness inside him as he did light. Grabbing the Smash Ball that he had found in the storage room of the castle, he broke it open by crushing it, and he felt waves upon waves of power coursing through his body. Deciding to save the transformation for later, he instead sat back on his throne. Before he could get too comfortable, however, he heard his walkie-talkie crackle, with a mix of screams and static, and the Army Hammer Bro's voice, now full of panic, yelled, "Lord Bowser, they've breached the castle! I don't think our defenses are going to hold much longer, there's a weird kid in some sort of masquerade outfit who's taken out most of the Koopa Troop! Wait. No! NO-"

The line went dead, and Bowser, stoically putting down the communication device, lowered the prison cage that held both Luigi and Peach inside, pulled out the Vibe Scepter, which flashed a bright red, and all of a sudden, both plumber/ghost hunter and princess had a fiery aura surrounding them. The two of them ran through, ready to wreak havoc on whatever caught their ire.

* * *

Dr. Mario punched through one of the doors, before wildly waving his hand in pain. A Spirit Orb, lurking high above, dropped down, managing to take in Red, Dr. Mario, and Joker, leaving Greninja, who stared at the small ball of light in a dumbfounded fashion.

* * *

The trio of Smashers landed in the bottom of a sewer, and pulled themselves up onto a platform which was inhabited by a lone Piranha Plant. Kamek swooped overhead, yammering on about something that was unintelligible to the rest of them, before sprinkling his magic onto the Piranha Plant. The plant, imbued by Kamek's magic, hopped into the water down below, and it began to grow... and grow... and grow. Soon enough, Stefano saw himself staring at the Naval Piranha, something he had remembered studying in Toadstool University. The overgrown weed, venomous drool slobbering down its mouth, snarled before spitting out a glob of fire, causing the Smashers to scatter. Pointing out the weak spot which was, fittingly enough, on its navel, Dr. Mario told Joker to target it while he and Red kept it busy. Jumping into the sewer water once more, Joker fired a bullet at the navel of the Piranha Plant, but a mass of thorny vines moved in front of the weak point to absorb the shot.

Up above, Charizard jammed the plant's mouth with a massive Fossil using Ancient Power, and the Naval Piranha squirmed in panic as it tried to spit the rock out. Squirtle blasted it with several Aura Spheres, before firing an Ice Beam to freeze its mouth shut and make the task of using its fire and venom much harder. Ivysaur lashed a Power Whip around the stem of the Naval Piranha, and dragged it to the platform on which they were standing on. Dr. Mario, his palms electrified, put his hands on the head of the Naval Piranha, and let loose with a wild discharge.

When the light show died out, it was revealed that the rock and ice had been dislodged and shattered respectively, but Naval Piranha just lay there, smoking and unmoving. Unfortunately, it began to rise again, and it immediately targeted Charizard by whipping it with a spiny vine, sending the burly dragon into the wall, and causing Red to recall him. Joker had finally managed to blast his way through the thick undergrowth that guarded the Naval Piranha's belly, but before he could take a shot, some vines latched onto his legs, and dragged him under.

Ivysaur got hit with a blob of black ink, which blinded her, and the Naval Piranha took advantage of that by lowering itself to her level and shooting it with a fireball point-blank. Red returned Ivysaur, and that left Squirtle and Dr. Mario to fight the botanic monstrosity. Underwater, Joker was busy trying to slice apart the vines that were holding him under, but accidentally cut his own leg in the process. Smelling blood in the water, numerous Piranha Buds that were growing out of the Naval Piranha swarmed the Phantom Thief, eager to take a bite, when all of a sudden, the vines around Joker's legs loosened, and the Piranha Buds retreated with a hiss.

Surfacing, Joker saw that the foliage covering the navel of the overgrown Piranha Plant had also retracted, and he did not hesitate in unloading his ammunition into the weak spot. Above him, Dr. Mario and Squirtle, who earlier had gotten a lucky shot with Aura Sphere, watched as the Naval Piranha began thrashing in its death throes, before slumping over and glowing a bright white. When the light faded, all that was left was a Spirit Orb, and Joker pulled himself out of the water, before gasping, "Disinfectant and bandages, please." Stefano obliged, and Red touched the Spirit Orb, bringing the three of them back into Bowser's Castle, due to him having returned Squirtle beforehand.

* * *

Greninja was busy fighting off Corporal Paraplonk, Sergeant Guy, and Private Goomp, collectively known as the Elite Trio, while waiting for the others to return from the ball of light he had been guarding for the last fifteen minutes. The light gave a bright flash, and the three Smashers miraculously returned, causing the Elite Trio to scatter. Red put the Spirit Orb in the pouch he had been carrying, and the four of them continued deeper into Bowser's Castle. Later on, in one of the numerous lava-filled chambers of the castle, Red felt something latch onto him, and he saw himself looking at Luigi, whose face was uncharacteristically angry. Luigi slammed the teenager on the ground using the Poltergust G-00, and made himself known to the others in the room by shooting a plunger and snapping his fingers, forming a cage of lightning around the Smashers.

* * *

 **Piranha Plants have a ridiculous amount of sub-species, the Naval Piranha, having served as a boss in numerous _Yoshi_ games, is easily one of the more iconic ones, especially with his infamous exploit.**

 **Doc and Luigi can both use lightning, but Luigi is far more capable with it due to having received the blessing of the Thunder God in the Beanbean Kingdom.**


	16. Broken Boundaries and Exceeded Limits

**_"Who are you?"_**

 ** _"Oh, didn't you know, pretty boy? Killing angels is MY specialty."_**

* * *

Little Mac, Ryu, and Diddy Kong had explored the southern half of Lumiose City, and managed to find themselves a cluster of three Spirit Orbs waiting for them at the checkpoint between cities, almost as if they were issuing challenges. The one furthest on the right absorbed Little Mac, the one in the middle caught Ryu, and the one on the left swept in Diddy Kong.

* * *

Diddy Kong faceplanted on the Coliseum floor, and looked up to see Marth, whose hair was strangely brown instead of blue, extend a hand. Beneath the young Kong, the ground started to rumble, and numerous floors of the Coliseum shifted up and down, throwing him up into the air. Pulling out his Rocketbarrel pack, Diddy began hovering in the air, knowing that attempting to challenge Marth on the ground would basically amount to suicide, especially with the earthquakes, which strangely didn't affect Marth at all.

Growling, Marth snapped his fingers, and Ragnarok was cast, the large sword heading straight for Diddy, who narrowly dodged the Psynergetic blade before flying straight at Marth for an attempt at an attack run...

* * *

Little Mac found himself on the Bridge of Eldin, and on the other side of it stood Wario, who was acting weird, rearing up like a bull ready to charge. Confused, Mac asked, "Wario... you okay, dude?"

The teenager from the Bronx got an answer in the form of a shoulder made out of pure muscle slamming into his chest, as Wario had charged with blinding speed. Stumbling back, he weaved around another shoulder tackle before blasting him with a flurry of punches. Mac began to charge up a Straight Lunge, and Wario slapped him in an attempt to throw him off. It didn't work, and Mac blasted Wario in the chin, sending the treasure hunter careening into the distance, leaving a Spirit Orb where he stood.

Touching it, Mac was brought back to the gate of Lumiose City, where he found Ryu standing, hair completely messed up by what appeared to be strong winds. The World Warrior muttered to himself, "Just _what_ was up with Falco in there? He wouldn't shut up about how great he was and how he controlled the wind..."

* * *

Diddy Kong dropped a Banana Peel onto Marth's face, and he felt a sudden rush of warmth and energy course through his body. Using his Final Smash, he expected to use the Rocketbarrel Barrage, but his Popguns didn't materialize, and his Rocketbarrel pack turned silver instead. The Hyper Rocketbarrel activated, and Diddy found himself flying around at supersonic speeds, blitzing Marth repeatedly, giving the swordsman no room to breathe or cast Clay Spire in an attempt to ground him.

When Marth was thoroughly disoriented and dazed, Diddy charged up the rockets, and rammed Marth head on, sending the swordsman flying off into the distance, leaving behind a Spirit Orb. Diddy touched it, and was brought back to the checkpoint that lead to the southern city, seeing that Little Mac and Ryu were waiting for him. The three of them passed the checkpoint, and they found themselves in another large, sprawling city, except Diddy found that the buildings were shaped like the various game consoles that were owned across the Mansion. Walking into a black and lime green building, Little Mac got smacked across the face by a Spirit Orb, and he got sucked in.

* * *

Falling onto Banjo's house at the base of Spiral Mountain, Mac looked behind him upon hearing the cock of a shotgun, and balked at the sight before him. Banjo, in a blue hoodie, with Kazooie being strangely absent, was pointing the firearm directly at his chin, and he warned the boxer, _"Not another step, buddy, or I'm busting a cap in your brain, and I sure as hell ain't gonna clean that shit up..."_

Conker, having spotted a chocolate bar in Mac's pocket, backpedaled, saying, _"Actually, scratch that thought. Why don't ya give me the chocolate_ _bar in your pocket, and we forget that this whole thing even happened? How 'bout that, shorty?"_

Mac answered by punching the shotgun out of Banjo/Conker's hands, and the bear took on a fierce glare before saying, _"So, you want to play rough, eh buddy? Well, SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!"_ Pulling out a machine gun, the Conker-possessed Banjo then pulled out a beer bottle, and took a hearty swill from it before tossing the bottle aside and opening fire. Little Mac's instincts told him to get out of the line of fire, and even though Conker was already drunk, causing most of his shots to miss, he hid behind Banjo's chimney before sneaking behind and blasting him in the back of the head with a straight, sending him to the other side of the roof.

Conker then threw numerous knives at the boxer, and while Mac managed to dodge most of the blades, one of them nicked him in the right arm, and he clutched said arm in pain. Walking up to Mac, the bear pulled a gun out of one of his pockets, and he sneered, _"See ya later, shorty!"_ Before Conker could pull the trigger, however, he was interrupted by the sound of a screeching monkey that was gradually increasing in volume. Said monkey fell right on top of Conker and Mac, and the three of them tumbled off of Banjo's roof. Conker lit a cigar before he turned the gun onto the disturbance, but almost dropped the firearm in shock upon seeing Diddy Kong grab his hat off the ground and dust it off.

The cigar dropping out of his mouth, Conker asked, _"Holy shit, Diddy, how are you?!"_

Pulling out one of his wooden boards and Snake's knife, Diddy scrawled down, "Wait, Conker, is that actually you? How's Berri been?"

 _"She's... dead. There's honestly no point in living without her, even with the whole 'King of All the Lands' bullshit I got granted. So..."_

Conker put the gun to his head, and said, _"Hey, Diddy, say hello to Banjo for me, would ya?"_

Diddy shielded his eyes just as a loud bang rang through the area, and when he uncovered them, all that was left of Conker was a Spirit Orb and his gun. Solemnly taking the Spirit Orb and putting it in the pouch, Diddy felt a jerk in his navel before he and Little Mac were brought back.

* * *

Ryu saw Diddy and Mac suddenly crash through the doors of the building they had gone into, and he ran over to the two of them, noticing that Mac had a decently-sized cut on his right arm. Cleaning the wound and wrapping it in a bandage, the three of them pressed forward, only to be intercepted by two of the newcomers, Meggy and Evan. Meggy turned to Evan, saying, _"Hey, maybe we have some unfresh people to completely own! Just look at their wardrobe!"_

Mac looked at his pink sweatsuit, being the only one who took offense to that statement, and Evan replied, _"Yeah! Also..."_

The blue cephalopod threw a Splat Bomb at the three of them, yelling, _"Eat ink, punks!"_

Diddy pulled out his jetpack and took flight, while Little Mac and Ryu dodged the incoming Splat Bomb, and then they began to fight the two on the ground. Pulling out the Krak-on Splat Roller, Evan barreled straight for the World Warrior, who used Focus Attack to block the first hit before turning around and punching the squid-kid straight in the gut as he turned around for a return attack, causing Evan to crumple onto the ground. Evan rolled out of the way of Ryu's Joudan Sokutougeri, only to get hit with a Jolt Haymaker from Little Mac. Now angry, along with his Special being activated, Evan activated the Kraken, transforming into a monstrous squid juggernaut that was absolutely invincible, and he charged straight at the two.

Diddy was bobbing and weaving around the various streams of ink that Meggy was shooting at him, before he saw a large amount of Splat Bombs being launched at him. Remembering the psychic practice he had done with Mewtwo in order to control the powers he had first manifested at the Striker Cup, Diddy concentrated, and one of the ink-filled explosives began circling around him before he willed it back at the Inkling. The bomb burst, and Meggy was launched into a nearby mailbox. Laughing in a dramatically over-the-top fashion, Diddy failed to notice that the rest of the Splat Bombs were primed to detonate, and he got absolutely drenched in ink, in addition to the explosives jamming his jetpack, sending him down to the ground. Meggy, having recovered, began chasing him down with an Octobrush, while Diddy began trying to clean out his jetpack, while also keeping Meggy at bay by firing peanuts at her.

Ryu and Little Mac had managed to take down Evan with a combined Shin Shoryuken and K.O. Uppercut, and the squid-kid was launched, flopping across the road before sliding to a stop. Mac ran over to Evan, and opened one of his eyelids, seeing that the Inkling's red eyes had returned to their usual blue. Moving him somewhere safe, Mac ran over to Diddy Kong, who was being chased by Meggy, who had switched back to her Wasabi Splattershot, having a Special ready. Pulling out her targeting map, she tapped the location that her nearest target was standing, and pressed the button.

A humongous missile strapped to her back launched into the air, and after reaching the apex of its launch, began to fall straight down. Mac yelped, and he and Ryu grabbed Diddy Kong before running to the spot where Evan was. Evan, having just woken up, clutched his head and massaged his chin, groaning, "Oww... my jaw..."

Evan looked out onto the street, and there he saw the little monkey he remembered meeting at the Newcomer Ceremony, along with the boxer and the martial artist running towards where he was. Looking up, he balked at the sight of an Inkstrike, most likely coming from Meggy, but the monkey stopped, closed his eyes, and began to murmur some sort of incantation. Miraculously, the Inkstrike stopped, now surrounded by a golden aura, before slowly starting to break apart thanks to the sheer power being exuded. As Evan sighed in relief, he noticed that the boxer had snuck up behind her, unleashing a flurry of blows and sending her across the street, right to where Evan was. Evan looked at her, and saw that she was thoroughly out for the count.

Diddy hastily pushed Mac and Ryu away from the sea of ink that was about to flood the streets thanks to the broken Inkstrike missile, and Little Mac removed his gloves before lifting one of Meggy's eyelids. Sure enough, her eyes had reverted from red to orange.

"...What was that?"

Little Mac grunted, "Hell if I know. Wish I had psychic powers..."

* * *

Isaac shivered, due to not being used to cold locations other than Prox and Imil, as he and his team looked up at their final destination of Mount Lanakila. Mega Man appeared to still be slightly affected by the magnetic field that emanated from Mt. Coronet, but otherwise, the Blue Bomber appeared to be perfectly fine. Snake curtly urged, "Let's go. This is the last mountain."

Isaac, Snake, Cloud, Mega Man, and Wario stepped onto the lift, and their treacherous journey to the summit of Mount Lanakila began.

* * *

Kirby, Banjo, and Mr. Game & Watch had finally reached the end of the long path they were supposed to take, which was surprisingly devoid of Spirit Orbs, and saw a large gap on the other end of the wall. Mr. Game & Watch grabbed onto Kirby, and he and Banjo took flight, managing to safely cross onto the other side of the World of Light. Flying through a desert wasteland, the trio found themselves facing a humongous volcano, and after a moment of deliberation, continued their flight path into the fiery landscape.

* * *

 **And so our first party has crossed into the eastern half of the World of Light.**

 **Go play _Mario Strikers Charged_ , it's a fantastic Mario sports game.**


	17. Light, Dark, and Everything In-Between

**_"...Zelda? I love you too."_**

* * *

Snake and company walked off the lift, and the mercenary surveyed the surrounding area for Shadow Bugs, due to the previous two mountains having been filled with hordes of Shadow Pokémon. Not finding anything immediately suspicious, the five of them pressed forward into the cave. Inside, Isaac, still shivering from the cold, cast Fireball, which, unfortunately for the group, attracted a group of Shadow Sneasel and Sandshrew. Wario stepped forward, grabbed one of the Sandshrew, and threw it at the group of Pokémon, causing them to topple like bowling pins before dissolving into Shadow Bugs. Smugly dusting his hands off, Wario continued forward, the others following closely. While they were trying to avoid Shadow Pokémon, the Smashers failed to notice a Spirit Orb floating above them, and the orb dropped down, scoring all five of them in one go.

* * *

Snake, Isaac, Cloud, Wario, and Mega Man found themselves on a dark blue hill that was illuminated by small green plants that looked like miniature stars. Just as Isaac was about to take one, a stray shot from a bullet made him jerk his hand away. Geno, accompanied by Mario, Peach, Bowser, and a gray Kirby, monotonously droned, _"I'm afraid that what you are doing is not permitted. All wishes made on Star Hill are to remain here until they come true."_

Wario snorted, and said, "Oh yeah? What's it to you, dolly? When I was a kid, I made wishes here all the time and they never got granted, so why does this stupid hill even exist?" As if to prove his point, Wario picked a wish up off the ground and punted it to parts unknown.

 _"Your wishes were not pure of heart, we would never grant one infinite riches or a petty revenge based on an incident in their childhood. And also, defiling the Star Hill is punishable... by execution."_ Pointing his firearm at the treasure hunter, Geno dropped the stoic front and roared to his party, **_"GET THEM!"_**

Snake tackled Wario out of the way of the puppet, grunting, "Leave him to me!" All around him, every one of the ten people at Star Hill, be it Smasher or Spirit, was locked in combat. Isaac used his Psynergy to try and prevent Peach from casting any of her potent healing spells, Cloud began to clash with Mario, who, instead of using his trusty Ultra Hammer, was kicking a Koopa Shell around like it was a soccer ball, forcing the ex-SOLDIER to stay on his toes, Wario went toe-to-toe with Bowser, matching the Koopa King's brute strength with his insurmountable endurance and durability, Mega Man seemed to be providing an answer for every magic spell the gray puffball threw at him, be it using the Jewel Satellite to block attacks, or the Black Hole Bomb to outright nullify them, and Snake began throwing grenades and C4 bricks at the puppet, who started to shoot each of the explosives out out of the air as to not cause harm to Star Hill.

Snake, in the middle of throwing explosives, analyzed the way the puppet fought. While his zoning was formidable, outclassing even his own, he had next to no close range options. Taking advantage of that, Snake dropped two grenades on the ground and charged at Geno. The star-possessed puppet seemed to freeze up upon seeing the mercenary charge straight at him, and Snake grabbed Geno in a chokehold before slapping a C4 on his cape. Tossing him, Snake pulled out the detonator and clicked it, and the resulting explosion sent the puppet flying off of Star Hill.

Towards the gate that led to the next area of the wish-laden hill, Isaac managed to stun Peach using Skull Splitter before launching her with a Supernova. Mega Man sucked Kirby into a Black Hole Bomb, and sealed it using the Concrete Shot. Cloud was having a harder time against Mario's superb jumping abilities, but managed to grab him out of a Super Jump before freezing him solid with Blizzaga. Wario had defeated Bowser with relative ease, and he tossed the thoroughly thrashed Koopa King next to a frozen Mario. Cloud used Death on the both of them, causing Bowser to stop breathing, while Mario stopped struggling inside the ice, and the two of them transformed into Spirit Orbs, soon being joined by three other balls of light. The five orbs combined with each other, and a Spirit containing Geno and his companions (consisting of Mario, Peach, Bowser, some weird cloud wearing pants, and Geno himself) fighting some unknown figure materialized. Mega Man picked up the Spirit and placed it in the pouch on Isaac's belt, and the five of them were brought back to Mount Lanakila.

* * *

Continuing forward, Mega Man spotted a cave off to the right of the main path, and asked Isaac if he could come over and investigate with him. The two ran into the cave, with the other three waiting on the main path.

The duo's first impression of the cave was that it was dark. Mega Man instructed Isaac to shield his eyes, and the Adept did so. Using the Flash Stopper, Mega Man illuminated the cave with a bright light, and he asked Isaac to uncover his eyes. Looking around, the two found nothing of note, except for a big, shiny, jet black, and prismatic rock that had weird markings on it. While Isaac went to take a closer look, Mega Man, scanning his surroundings nervously, asked, "Hey, Isaac? My Flash Stopper's almost out of- why is the rock glowing?"

Isaac took a step back, and sure enough, the rock was glowing with a dim golden light. Mega Man's Flash Stopper ran out of energy, and the rock took on a brighter glow as the rest of the cave plunged into darkness, causing the Blue Bomber to run out of the cave, Isaac following suit. Snake saw the two run out of the cave, panting, and he asked, "What happened in there?"

"There was this weird rock that sucked in light. HOW that works, I don't even know..."

Choosing to not press any further, the Smashers continued through the cave, finding a light blue crystal with a snowflake marked on it. Snake pocketed it, having found similar ones in both Blush Mountain and Hokulani Observatory. Wario yelled, "Hey! I see light!" and the other Smashers ran to where Wario was, and sure enough, they found themselves at the top of the mountain, with a tall tower that looked like it could be climbed sitting at the apex.

After a grueling fifteen minutes of climbing in the harsh cold, Snake found a small pedestal with a tablet inside of it. Extricating the tablet, he activated it, and looked through what looked like a photo album. Unknown to him, its owner, wielding the Master Sword, a legendary blade that had garnered titles such as "the sword that seals the darkness" and "the bane of all evil," had snuck up behind him, primed to strike...

* * *

Galeem was now in the cave that Mega Man and Isaac had entered, and upon shining a bright light, a distorted voice echoed, _"Light... feels good. More... MORE!"_

 _"Who are you? What do you need this light for?"_

 _"If you give me some of your limitless light, I will be in your servitude. I possess power beyond your wildest dreams... I AM A GOD!"_

Though reluctant at first, Galeem decided that gaining another ally in his quest to engulf the world in light was more important, and he began to emit a blinding golden light, only to be stopped the the voice asking, _"If you don't mind, my true form is rather big. Do you mind doing this in a more... spacious area?"_

Galeem teleported the rock and himself into his little pocket dimension, and he continued glowing. The rock on the ground began changing color, from jet black to a sort of dull yellow, before changing to bright gold. The voice said once more, _"Light... light... LIGHT!"_

A blinding light seared through the space, and it was so bright that even Galeem had to shield himself using his massive wings. When the light died out, Galeem unfurled them, and found himself staring at a gigantic, golden four-winged dragon that exuded a powerful aura in addition to a blinding light. The voice, which belonged to said dragon, said, _"I am Necrozma, the Blinding One, Alola's god of light, and for your deed in helping me regain my true strength, I offer my servitude, to you... er, what was your name?"_

 _"Galeem."_

 _"Very well, Lord Galeem. What is it that you wish for me to do?"_

 _"I want you to serve as my second-in-command. Guard me and prevent these people..."_

Galeem displayed visions of the Smashers that had escaped his control. Mario and Donkey Kong had severed one of the heads of Fortitudo while Matthew, Simon, and Pit were working on the other, Kirby and Banjo were walking across a volcanic landscape with that worthless shadow man who he had cloned, Cloud was dueling Link on top of the Sheikah Tower, Dr. Mario was trying to talk his younger cousin out of his trance, and Little Mac's group was walking across that sprawling maze of a city he himself had created.

 _"...from reaching me."_

 _"Understood, Lord Galeem."_

* * *

Cloud had hit Link with a wicked Thundaga, and Link dropped both the Master Sword along with his Hylian Shield. Drawing his Ancient Bow, he fired an Ancient Arrow, dead set on erasing one of them from existence. However, the arrow struck Wario, and after about half of his body vanished, it began putting itself back together. As the Puppet Fighter stared in shock, Mega Man blasted him in the back with a charged Mega Buster shot, sending him halfway across the length of the tower. Snake slapped a C4 onto the Hylian, and once Link rose, he clicked the detonator, causing Link to bounce off the roof and ground of the tower like he was a basketball before eventually stopping.

Isaac snapped his fingers, and Wario was lit ablaze. After a moment of outrage, he settled down, the fire warming him up to normal temperatures, and the Smashers sat around him while they waited for the Hylian Champion to awaken.

Later, after everyone save for Isaac and Snake had gone to bed (Wario, amusingly, had fallen asleep while on fire), Link woke up, and took in his surroundings. After about five minutes, he asked, "Did I end up in Hebra again?"

Snake let out a mirthless chuckle, replying, "Nah, kid, you're just on Mount Lanakila."

"La... Lanakila?"

"'Victory' in foreign dialect. We've reached the peak of this mountain range, and it appears the only way down is into the ocean. You _can_ swim, right?"

Link nodded, and Snake said, "Perfect. We'll be jumping down tomorrow. Go back to sleep, blondies..."

* * *

The following morning, Snake unpinned a hand grenade and set it somewhere away from everyone else, and Wario, who had been reduced to a pile of ashes with a pair of eyeballs sitting on top, inexplicably reconstituted himself, dusting off any ash that was on his clothes. The grenade exploded, and the resulting bang jolted everyone else awake. Snake grunted, "Come on, we're going to the ocean today, so we better hurry, unless the lot of you want to freeze your butts off..."

Everyone else jumped off the tower, and met Snake at the cliff that they were supposed to jump off of to reach the ocean, and according to Mega Man, there was a large ship waiting at the bottom of the cliff. Cloud was the only one who looked displeased with the idea of traveling on a boat, due to his frequent motion sickness. Isaac, using the Teleport Lapis, warped to the boat with relative ease, while Snake vanished inside a wormhole. Rock called for Beat, and the robotic bird grabbed onto one of his hands before gently lowering him down the cliff, Link had taken out a Savage Lynel Shield, and began surfing down the hill on that, and Wario tossed a snowboard to Cloud before jumping onto his own and zipping down the cliffs with impressive speed. Looking at the board in his hands, Cloud shrugged before jumping on it, and, like Wario, began doing some tricks on the board before touching the bottom of the cliff.

Upon reaching the bottom, Wario pulled out Goodstyle and waved the wand around before turning into Captain Wario, jumping into the ocean and Mega Man summoned Rush, the robotic canine transforming into the Rush Marine. Mega Man hopped in, and pulled out every single one of his Energy, Weapon, Super, and Mystery Tanks, due to predicting that the ride would be long and arduous. Isaac, once he made sure that everyone else had made it onto the ship, activated the Black Orb belowdecks, and the six Smashers sailed off into the unknown in search of land.

* * *

Matthew, thoroughly exhausted, dropped to the ground upon exiting Palutena's Temple, and began to snore, muttering something about a 'Grave Eclipse' and a 'Mourning Moon'. Mario and Donkey Kong silently agreed to take a rest before setting off for the Icicle Mountain, and the five of them set up camp. Pit bunked with Matthew, while Mario, Donkey Kong, and Simon all bunked solo. During the night, Mario did not have a single nightmare, and he slept like a rock.

The next morning, the five of them set off for the snowy peak that stood in front of them. Matthew, being the most quiet out of all of them, was anointed as their scout for anything dangerous, and he pressed ahead, until he heard two voices, one of which said, _"So... the Son of Sol arrives."_

Matthew drew the Sol Blade, and motioned for everyone else to silently follow his lead. As they tiptoed by, Matthew caught more of the conversation, the other voice hissing out, _"We can't jeopardize this! We mess this up, and the Radiant One makes us pay!"_

 _"Well, what do we have to lose?"_

 _"These bodies, for one."_

The Spirits possessing Popo and Nana were so caught up in their bickering that they failed to notice that the Venus Adept and his group had snuck up on them, and Donkey Kong knocked the two of them out cold before hauling them on his shoulders. Continuing, they found a large slope that led to the base of the mountain, and a large ship that the three conscious veterans recognized as the Great Fox. Matthew gave a nonchalant shrug before jumping down the slope, and Mario and Donkey Kong, still carrying Popo and Nana, followed suit. Simon also jumped down, before being followed by Pit, who whooped, "THIS IS THE BEST!"

* * *

When Crazy Hand came to, he saw that the cage of light around him had dissipated, and that he was stuck in some sort of hellish reverse dimension, almost like the Reverse World which housed that freaky Pokémon that flew around like it owned the place (which, to be fair, it probably did). Floating around, Crazy Hand felt unnerved upon seeing the numerous effigies of that light ball his brother was forced to serve being impaled by spikes, and the statues became more disturbing, with Master Hand and the numerous Smashers, who, while the destructive left hand would never admit it publicly, had endeared themselves to him, also being depicted as statues in brutal, visceral deaths, the most disturbing of them being a effigy of Pit with his wings ripped off and his body badly burned.

"Hey! What the heck is this place? I want answers!"

 _"Then you shall not find them from me..."_

"Who are you?"

 _"Tell me, do you wish for wanton destruction?"_

"Um... yes?"

A deep laugh rumbled through the land, and several large red and black tendrils wrapped themselves around Crazy Hand, pulling him into a tangle of said tendrils. The disembodied voice then said, _"Gaze upon my true form, and despair..."_

What Crazy Hand saw was the most horrifying thing he had ever seen, and that was saying something, considering he had been at ground zero regarding the Master Core Incident just two years prior. Inside the tendrils was its core: a massive, electric blue fleshy eyeball that seemed to expand and contract on a whim, and once the eyeball set its sights on Crazy Hand, it changed to blood-red. The same voice, its source now revealed, boomed, _"From now until the end of time, you have one master, and one master only: ME. Is that understood?"_

 _"Understood, Lord..."_

 _"Dharkon._ _My first order... find me an army. An army that will do nothing except DESTROY whatever stands in their way!"_

 _"Understood!"_ At that, Crazy Hand warped out of the Dark Realm and into Bowser's Castle. Finding the freezer room, he cut it out of reality, and warped it back to the Dark Realm before teleporting himself to Toad Town's sewers and prying the sorry husk of what was once the Dark Star out of its container. Warping back to the Dark Realm, he tossed the Dark Star's body next to the freezer, and said, _"There you go!"_

 _"Pray tell, what could I possibly do with a freezer and a ball?!"_

 _"Look inside the freezer; your ticket to destruction with no end lays inside. As for the ball... I'd say that it'll garner enough power in this dimension in about... six hours."_

Dharkon knocked out Crazy Hand, and dragged him to an unknown location for cloning purposes, before returning to the freezer and ball that the hand had left for him. Wrapping the ball in one tentacle, he pumped a massive amount of dark energy into it, and the ball pulsed before breaking free from the grasp of Dharkon.

 _"Which foolish mortal dares to wake me from my slumber? Now, your time has come... prepare for an eternity of darkness-"_

 _"You insolent fool!_ I _was the one who resurrected you! Now you serve ME!"_

 _"I am the Dark Star! I am darkness incarnate, the terror that lies underneath the Mushroom Kingdom! I answer to no one!"_

Before the argument could continue, Dharkon snagged the Dark Star in another tendril, and his eye flashed red once more. Releasing the Dark Star, he asked, _"Now, tell me, who do you serve again?"_

 _"You and you only, Lord Dharkon."_

 _"Excellent!"_ To himself, Dharkon mused, _"Galeem will pay dearly for sealing me away in this world, now that I have the incarnation of all darkness on my side!"_

Dharkon's unhinged laughter echoed all across the Dark Realm.

* * *

"Luigi... what would Mario say if he saw you like this?"

The cage of electricity dissipated, and Luigi's eyes returned to their natural blue after a good twenty minutes. Dr. Mario walked up to his youngest cousin and lightly hugged him, while allowing Luigi to use his lab coat as a handkerchief as the part-time ghost hunter sobbed out apologies about not being brave and strong enough to resist the mind control. Once Luigi had gotten it all out of his system, Stefano placed a hand on his cousin's shoulder, and gently told him, "Look, _cugino_ , I understand we haven't talked much since the last tournament wrapped, but... being afraid is part of what makes us who we are. Take your brother, for instance. After your ghost-hunting adventures, he sat down with me for about three to five weeks after each incident to talk about it. It may seem impossible, almost absurd to you, but your brother revealed to me in those sessions that he did have fears, most of them running deep within him."

"A-and what did he say?"

"He's afraid of failing everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom. He fears those freaky aliens that nearly drove the kingdom to ruin when we were babies. Antasma terrifies him. But, most importantly... he's afraid that something bad will happen to you while he isn't there to stop it. However... those fears are what drives him to protect those he cares about, be it friend or enemy. Luigi... these fears are a part of all of us, don't look down on yourself just because you have them."

Luigi smiled, and wholeheartedly embraced his cousin, who reciprocated equally. The heartfelt moment between the Marios was interrupted by a loud honking noise. The two turned around, and they saw Red blowing his nose and passing fireproof wipes for his entire team. Greninja and Joker were silently applauding Dr. Mario's speech in the back, and once the eight of them were ready to proceed, they continued further into the castle.

* * *

 **Mario's not a perfect hero, not by a long shot. However, it is okay for a hero to show that they are afraid of something, as it makes their overcoming of said fear (for example, Luigi mostly getting over his fear of ghosts at the end of _Dark Moon_ ) incredibly satisfying to see.**

 **Agents of light and dark are beginning to show up, and I don't think Mario will be too happy with Bowser once he finds out about one of them...**


	18. The Destiny of Samus and Ridley

_**"So, you think this'll be like it was the last time around? Well, THINK AGAIN!"**_

* * *

Kirby and Banjo landed in the hellish volcanic landscape that was Death Mountain, and the bear looked around before commenting, "Gee, I never thought I'd miss Hailfire Peaks..."

Kazooie dope-slapped him with one of her wings, saying, "Whaddaya waiting for, Banjo? Let's go!"

Banjo yelped and ran after Kirby and Mr. Game & Watch, who were already walking towards the active volcano. Up above, Ridley, being forced to act as a monitor for the area, let out a low growl, as he was being forced to guard his sworn arch-enemy, the Hunter. Seeing a Bokoblin, he swooped down and snatched the squealing creature in his talons before frying it with point-blank Plasma Breath. Eating the thoroughly cooked Bokoblin in one gulp, Ridley continued to survey the area in search of another meal.

Mr. Game & Watch heard something that sounded a lot like Samus firing her Ice Beam, so he, acting as the veteran Smasher because of Kirby's young age and Banjo's inexperience, motioned for the two to follow his lead. Hiding behind a small face of basalt, Mr. Game & Watch shifted his dimensions and, deciding to take a wager, bopped Samus with his Judge attack. Unfortunately for the two-dimensional man, he scored an 8, which, while highly dangerous, lacked the raw destructive power of a 9. Deciding that there was no point in continuing with stealth since Samus had Homing Missiles, Mr. Game & Watch shifted dimensions once more as Samus was beginning to thaw out of the ice.

Kirby and Banjo leaped out from behind the rocks, with Banjo rolling across the ground and Kirby having transformed into Spark Kirby by inhaling a Sparky, which were inexplicably residing in Death Mountain. Kirby fired a ball of plasma at the bounty hunter, and Banjo used the Golden Feathers to activate Wonderwing, before he charged towards Samus in a head-long sprint. The bear was surprisingly powerful for someone of his size, and since Wonderwing rendered him immune to most forms of damage, Samus couldn't strike back. Samus rolled under the ball of plasma before freezing the puffball in a block of ice using a burst of ice from her cannon, causing him to lose the Spark ability. Kazooie popped out of the backpack, cawing out a string of indecipherable swears, and fired a burst of eggs at the bounty hunter. Samus dodged them all and shot the bird with a Super Missile, but got clobbered by a chair from Mr. Game & Watch. She fired the Charge Shot she had been saving, but the two-dimensional man pulled out his Oil Panic bucket and absorbed the blast.

"Oh, hey! Is this thing important, suit lady?"

Kazooie blasted the Power Suit with grenade eggs before transforming into her dragon form and breathing a stream of fire at Samus. Mr. Game & Watch dropped his match into the bucket of oil, and dumped the whole thing on the bounty hunter before dropping a bomb on her helmet, and Kirby finished the job by inhaling yet another Sparky to regain the Spark ability, before shooting a massive ball of plasma at the bounty hunter. When the firestorm died down, most of the circuitry on Samus' Power Suit had been melted, along with the suit's left arm. After about twenty minutes, the bounty hunter began to stir.

Her left arm now exposed to the elements, Samus instead propped herself up using her arm cannon and asked, "Hey, what happened-"

She never finished that sentence, as a blur of purple snatched her in its grasp and took to the skies, letting out a triumphant screech. The only thing Samus could register was her abductor's face, and she thought, _"Not again..."_

Ridley, still just as brutal as ever, dragged Samus along the rocky surface of the volcano before stopping to punch her in the helmet, cracking the visor, and he followed up by bashing her into the rocks hard enough to expose a magma chamber inside the volcano, breaking apart the rest of the damaged Power Suit. Smirking, Ridley hissed, _"Your story ends NOW! You've killed me four times... can you imagine the pain I've gone through ever since Zebes? All the surgery, my time as a Leviathan Guardian, the pain of being crushed by rocks and blown apart, being torn apart by those blasted Subspace Bombs, and finally being drained by a Queen Metroid... NOW IT'S YOUR TURN TO SUFFER THE WAY I DID!"_

Pausing, Ridley continued, _"Though I_ _suppose that I should thank you for helping me get rid of those pesky cybernetics by luring me to planets filled with wildlife..."_

As he began charging up his plasma laser, the former Space Pirate commander was struck by a large ball of electricity, and in pain, he cast the Hunter aside before whirling around to face his assailant, and, expecting it to be the same electric rat that had played a key role in stopping him in the Subspace debacle, snarled, _"YOU AGAIN! I've let you live for far too long, now you DIE-"_

Ridley stopped upon seeing Kirby, Game & Watch, and the bear with a backpack that he vaguely remembered meeting at the Newcomer Ceremony. Shrugging off his confusion, he turned his wrath to those three and let loose with the plasma laser, cutting a swath of destruction through the volcano and exposing more magma chambers. After that, he began to charge up his Plasma Breath, but before he could shoot the fireballs, an egg flew into his mouth and jammed it, causing the attack to backfire and explode in his mouth, leaving him in massive pain. Despite the fact that his mouth felt like it had swallowed all of the acid on Brinstar, Ridley lunged with a burst of speed and grabbed the bear, dragging him across the numerous magma pockets that he had exposed by firing the laser earlier. Once he felt that he had done enough damage, he shifted his attention to Kirby and grabbed the pink puffball in his claws, lowly growling, _"There, there, there's no need for tears... because you'll be dead soon after."_

Ridley's tail shot up, but before he could impale Kirby, he felt something akin to that lightning bolt that the electric rat had used on him, and he was sent careening into a face of rock. As Kirby tried to get a good look at his savior, he saw Samus in her Zero Suit and Mr. Game & Watch exchange a high-five, the combination of her Paralyzer and his Judge attack scoring a 9 having paralyzed Ridley and launched him away. Banjo got up, his back aching with a searing pain, and Kazooie popped out of the backpack, as the sheer heat from the lava had her sweating bullets, and she needed some fresh air (or something close to it, considering the volcanic environment).

Banjo caught back up with the other three, and the four of them went over to investigate Ridley, who was beginning to stir already. The humongous dragon opened his eyes, and though they were no longer red, they were still filled with the same malice, sadism, and cruelty that they possessed just now. Spotting the Hunter, he jumped back to his feet and screeched, brandishing his tail almost as if it were a weapon. Samus drew her Paralyzer and her jet boots flared to life, an equal amount of hatred burning in her eyes. Before either of them could make a move, Mr. Game & Watch stepped in between them and held up a sign that said, "Okay, that's ENOUGH."

"Save the animosity for when we resolve this. We MUST work together, otherwise all will be lost. Is that understood?"

Neither hunter nor dragon moved an inch. Mr. Game & Watch pulled out his hammers, and in the most threatening tone he could pull off in Morse code, he said, "Is. That. Understood?"

Samus and Ridley both lowered their weapons, and reluctantly shook hands. Banjo's voice interrupted, saying, "Well, this is nice an' all, but I think that volcano's gonna erupt..."

Everyone turned around at those words, and true to what the bear had said, Death Mountain was about to blow its top. Kazooie popped out of the backpack and yelled, "Well, what are you pea brains waiting for?! RUN!"

Kazooie took flight, lifting herself, Banjo, and Mr. Game & Watch off the ground (it took more effort to do since Samus had stuffed her broken Power Suit into Banjo's backpack), Kirby, being Kirby, took to the skies with ease, while Samus was clinging to his feet for dear life, and Ridley took off, outpacing everyone else within seconds.

* * *

Luigi, in his panic, flashed the Strobulb, but Peach, still running on the energy of the Vibe Scepter, continued chasing them unfazed. Red sent out Ivysaur, commanding her to use Sludge Bomb on the princess, which actually managed to slow her down for a bit, and Greninja, unknown to everyone, melted into the shadows. Stefano stepped forward, hands raised in placation, and said, "Look, Princess... it's us! Good old Dr. Mario and Luigi!"

Peach said nothing, and her rage-fueled rampage continued, forcing the group to retreat into the next room, which, quite coincidentally, was the throne room. Peach raised a frying pan, but before she could strike, Greninja emerged from the shadows and gave her a nasty-looking kick in the back of the head, which only served to make her angrier. Luigi, cautiously stepping backward, tripped a wire, which lead to an alarm going off. Immediately jumping up, Luigi looked around in alarm, before his eyes settled on the Vibe Scepter laying on Bowser's throne, completely unguarded. Seizing an opportunity, the younger Mario brother ran towards the throne and lunged for the staff, managing to grab it before Bowser came crashing into the room, bellowing, _"Who dares step into my throne room?!"_

Red released Charizard from his Poké Ball and used his Mega Stone to Mega Evolve the Fire Lizard Pokémon into Mega Charizard X, and Bowser roared in anger before tussling with the now black-and-blue dragon. Luigi, still holding onto the Vibe Scepter, threw it into the lava pit that was below them, causing the fiery aura that surrounded Peach to dissipate. Her sheer rage now gone, Peach, though she was still possessed by a Spirit, looked around in confusion, and Joker pistol-whipped her before she could do anything, causing her to fall unconscious. Ignoring the quizzical stares from the Marios, he shifted his sights to Bowser, and leaped into the battle, brandishing Paradise Lost. Luigi and Stefano stared at each other for a moment before shrugging and joining the fight, Greninja not far behind.

Bowser let out a thunderous roar, bellowing, _"You shrimps will NEVER win! Try as you might, the Radiant One is too strong!"_ After punching Joker in the face, throwing Charizard into a wall, and holding Greninja in a chokehold, Bowser slammed a button on his throne, and the ground began to shake. Using the Smash Ball, he transformed into Giga Bowser, and, now with only his primal instincts remaining, slammed Greninja into a wall before turning his sights to Luigi, Dr. Mario, and Peach, who had recovered from her spell as a Puppet Fighter.

Peach, having a massive headache, stood up, only to find herself facing Giga Bowser...

* * *

Meggy, Evan, Ryu, Diddy, and Mac were right about to exit the City of Games, but the five of them were intercepted by a Spirit Orb and sucked in.

* * *

Landing on 75m, the group of Smashers looked up to see Peach in a red dress. As they approached her, however, she screamed in panic and began to run away from them. Meggy and Evan Super Jumped onto a higher platform, Diddy put on his Rocketbarrel Pack and took off in hot pursuit, while Ryu and Little Mac exchanged a glance before shrugging and beginning to jump on platforms as if they were Mario.

Peach climbed to the top, expecting that none of them could reach her up there. However, the two small colorful teenagers popped up right next to her, and the monkey was flying around on his jetpack in an effort to catch her. She tried to escape, but her openings were cut off by ink-filled explosives being manipulated around her, and Peach stared in confusion at the monkey, who had stopped in the air, and was currently meditating, eyes flashing a bright purple.

Meggy and Evan advanced on the princess, their weapons pointed right at her, but not long after, Donkey Kong came crashing down from up above, and upon seeing the two kids approaching his prize, let out a massive roar, beating his chest all the while. Snatching the princess, he situated her on a platform, and waited for his former owner, that weird mustachioed carpenter who called himself Jumpman, all the while keeping a watchful eye on the squid-kids and the monkey.

Down below, Jumpman (or rather, Mario in his wedding tuxedo) was receiving a hellacious beating from the combined duo of Ryu and Little Mac, the two of them finishing off Mario/Jumpman with a Shinku Hadoken dragging Mario across the platforms towards Little Mac, and the short boxer let loose with a KO Uppercut, sending Mario flying into the background.

Donkey Kong looked at the body spinning away into the distance before making a noise of confusion. While he was distracted, Meggy and Evan took the opportunity to chuck Splat Bombs at him, which drenched the gorilla in ink. Diddy Kong swooped in and snatched Peach off her perch, before flying down and throwing her into the abyss. Donkey Kong exclaimed in horror, before his body slowly destabilized and began to dissolve into the same wisps of light that composed the numerous Spirit Orbs the group had secured across the City of Games. Two other orbs joined the main one, and an image of a lady in a red dress holding a microphone materialized in the center.

Diddy Kong stared at the lady in a mixture of realization and awe before realizing that it was indeed that woman that his uncle had tried to kidnap twice before. Grabbing one of his wood blocks, he pulled out Snake's pocket knife and carved out, "We should be going."

Touching the Spirit Orb, Diddy, Meggy, Evan, Ryu, and Little Mac, the latter two having finally gotten to the top, were drawn back into the City of Games.

* * *

Walking east, Diddy pointed out a small town with a go-kart racing strip, and the group walked in, hoping to possibly find another Puppet Fighter.

* * *

Peach almost screamed, but managed to suppress it, steel her nerves, and pull out her trusty frying pan before performing her trademark floating technique and bashing Giga Bowser in the nose repeatedly. Luigi, after looking in awe, snapped his fingers, zapping Giga Bowser with a massive bolt of lightning, and Stefano electrified his fists before running up and delivering two brutal palm strikes to the massive reptile's left leg, causing the mutated Koopa King to roar in pain before kicking out with said leg, launching Dr. Mario into a wall.

Mega Charizard had recovered, rejoining the fight by raking Giga Bowser across the face with Dragon Claw, and Red also sent out Ivysaur to act as a support. She used Frenzy Plant, causing numerous vines and roots to emerge from all around the room, some of them even coming from Piranha Plants in the garden to bind Giga Bowser's limbs. As she was restraining Giga Bowser, however, a potted Piranha Plant fell through the hole that had been created by the vines and viciously snapped at Ivysaur. Joker, for the sake of practicality, simply scooped it up and rabbit punched it, causing it to go limp, its tongue lolling out of its mouth. Pulling out the God of a Thousand Demons, Joker opened fire on Giga Bowser. Luigi, holding onto the Poltergust G-00 for dear life, blasted Giga Bowser with the ice function before smacking him in the shell with the Ultra Hammer.

Bowser roared, and was about to do his Ground Pound, but once he had jumped to do the slam, something latched onto him and prevented him from doing the drop. Mega Charizard, grabbing him by the horns, took off, creating a hole in the throne room. Red, realizing what Charizard wanted to do, yelled at the top of his lungs, "SEISMIC TOSS, GIVE IT ALL YOU'VE GOT!" Luigi and Dr. Mario looked up before yelping in alarm and dragging Peach, Joker, the Piranha Plant, and Red out of the impact zone. Greninja peeled himself out of the wall, and the others motioned for him to stay where he was. Looking up, the Ninja Pokémon simply jumped back into his crevice in the wall, waiting for Charizard to come back down.

Charizard took in his surroundings, seeing a series of stone islands with waterfalls cascading down to the ground before turning his eyes back onto his target, who was trying to go limp in order to drag the both of them down. Hefting up the Koopa King and grabbing his tail, Charizard spun in the air three times before throwing him back onto the ground. Bowser crashed onto the floor with a resounding thud, and what remained of the throne room's ceiling caved in on itself. Once the dust had cleared, Luigi peered out from a pile of rubble, timidly asking, "Hello?"

* * *

Ridley, being a dragon, had managed to beat everyone else to the top, and he surveyed the area. Upon seeing what looked like Giga Bowser crash into a building, he hissed, "Never thought I'd see that lumbering fool fly..."

Banjo was next, and he propped himself up, Mr. Game & Watch jumping off his head. Turning to Ridley, he asked, "Uh... what do ya mean?" Before Ridley could answer, Samus, having flown the rest of the way up courtesy of her jet boots, glared at Ridley before storming off to the fortress in the sky. Kirby was the last one up, and without looking any worse for wear, ran after Samus. Banjo and Mr. Game & Watch exchanged a glance, and shrugged before running after the two of them. Ridley rolled his shrunken eyes to the best of his ability before flying towards the castle.

* * *

 **Ridley is one of my favorite Smashers, period. He was originally going to be found in the Dark Realm, but I changed my mind because I want to continue his dynamic with Samus (aka their undying hatred).**

 **And with Luigi, Peach, and Bowser being brought back, one of the seven Star Children remains: Yoshi.**


	19. Chase Through Sea Breeze Cove

**Well, thanks to the guest reviewer for the kind words, first off. Secondly, apologies if certain parties appear to be making minuscule progress. And finally, here's our mandatory no-context quote for later parts in the story.**

 _ **"W-why am I going to Dracula's Castle?"**_

* * *

Snake growled in frustration as their ship hit yet another rock. It had been roughly two days since they began sailing, and the most entertaining thing that had happened was Link attempting to fashion a crude flying machine out of two minecarts he had salvaged from the ocean floor and failing miserably. Isaac stuck his head out of the lower deck's entrance, and sheepishly apologized before returning to the Black Orb that made the ship run. Deciding to try and take his mind off the skull-numbing boredom of sailing the high seas, Snake instead decided to admire the scenery. Some small islands, the occasional dolphins with goggles, and numerous octopus tentacles right about to slam into the ship.

The mercenary did a double take on that last one, before yelling for Isaac, Link, and Cloud. The three blonde swordsmen ran over to Snake, and before they could ask anything, he motioned for the three of them to look to their right. None of them seemed particularly fazed by this, and Cloud, through the use of his Master Magic Materia, caused the Buster Sword became imbued with electricity, and the ex-SOLDIER pointed it at the mass of tentacles before a bolt of lightning struck, causing the tentacles to retreat back under the water.

Wario, having reverted back to his regular outfit, was now taking a swim underwater, having gotten bored with sailing. Diving deeper, he noticed what looked like a treasure chest filled with gold and jewels. Rubbing his hands together eagerly, he swam down to the bottom and pried the chest out of the rocks. Resurfacing, the treasure hunter tossed the loot onto the deck of the ship, and Link looked over the deck to find Wario back in his Captain Wario disguise. Just as he turned his eyes back to the deck, he saw Mega Man covered in seaweed and Rush shaking himself dry. Curious, the Hylian Champion asked, "What happened to you?"

Rock's truncated response was, "Giant octopus. Looks like it's going to try and sink the ship."

"What do you mean, sink the-"

Link was interrupted by Wario crashing face-first onto the deck courtesy of an enormous octopus. All around them, numerous tentacles latched themselves onto the ship, and Snake stormed out of the bottom deck, asking, "Hey, what's the big idea?"

The mercenary's voice was interrupted by a ferocious roar from the octopus that was in front of the ship, and Snake cursed just as the weather coincidentally became stormy. The mercenary found Cloud, but he was too busy puking his guts out from the constant rocking motion of the ship to be able to do anything, and Isaac ran out onto the deck, his eyes glowing purple as he cast the biggest Thunderhead he possibly could. The massive bolt of lightning hit true, and Squiddicus roared in pain before heaving the Lemurian ship up, tossing everyone off board and into parts unknown. Crushing the ship in his grasp, the humongous cephalopod recovered his treasure that the overall-wearing slob had stolen from him.

* * *

 ** _"DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS ONLINE... GOOD EVENING, ROCK."_**

Mega Man came to, his diagnostic systems having gone into overdrive to resuscitate him, and when he stood up, he found himself in the ruins of what looked like a fortress. Dusting himself off, he saw, to his relief, that Rush, Beat, and most surprisingly, Tango, were all right. His thoughts were interrupted by Luigi's voice asking, "Rock, that you?"

"Don't worry, Luigi, it's me. Have you found anyone..."

His sentence was interrupted by a large amount of people suddenly appearing all around him, ranging from Mr. Game & Watch to the bipedal bear to that large dragon whose eyes narrowed upon setting his sights on the Blue Bomber. Rock, completely surrounded, waved, nervously saying, "Hi?"

Everyone not named Ridley or Bowser swarmed the robot, bombarding him with questions. Joker, on the other hand, had eagerly shook his hand before geeking out about all of his various weapons and technology. Mega Man smiled, rubbing the back of his head, before deciding to talk with Joker after answering the others' questions, as from what he had gathered, he seemed like a nice guy. Dr. Mario, after asking his bit, slapped his forehead for not remembering about the communication device Mario had given to him at the Newcomer's Ceremony, and he grabbed Luigi and Peach off to where Bowser was recovering at. Looking up at the three of them, Bowser growled, "Hm? What's so important, pill-pusher?"

After giving Bowser an unimpressed glance, Stefano pulled out the communication device, which looked an awful lot like his Shroom Phone back at his office in the Mushroom Kingdom, and Dr. Mario looked through the contact list, which, impressively enough, contained the information of every last Smasher except for the new kid. Finding his cousin's name, he dialed the number, and waited for a response...

* * *

...And at the same time, Mario's phone went off, and he facepalmed, muttering, "Mama-mia, why didn't I-a think of-a this sooner?"

Picking up, the phone went straight to the video feature, and Mario was greeted with the sight of his cousin, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser. On the other end, Stefano said, "Mario, good to see you again, _cugino_!"

Luigi was next, and he exclaimed, "Bro, you have no idea how glad I am to see you again! How've you been doing?"

Before Mario could answer (he was overjoyed at the fact that his brother was alive), Peach chimed in with, "Mario, we were so worried about you!"

Bowser finished off the round of greetings with, "Good to see you, I guess."

Luigi snatched the phone back, and asked, "So, bro, how's it been going for you? Have you found anyone else?"

"Oh, right, um..."

Mario called for the rest of his party to come over, and the four on the other end got a good look at Mario's current traveling companions. There was Donkey Kong, still as energetic as ever (the ape greeted them with a thumbs up), the blonde kid with a massive longsword (Matthew nervously waved), Pit, who flashed a peace sign before dragging Nana and Popo into the camera's view, and the battle couple gave a friendly wave before the camera finally turned to Simon, who regarded them with a curt gesture.

Dr. Mario's voice interrupted, and he questioned with, "So, did you pass any of those phones out at the Newcomer's Ceremony?"

"Well, I gave one to-a Cloud and another to-a Little Mac, but-a that's about it..."

"Wouldn't hurt to try though, eh, plumber boy?"

Mario took Bowser's advice and dialed Cloud's number to add him to the call.

* * *

Cloud had regrouped with Isaac, Wario, Snake, and Link inside a cave. Most worryingly, there was no trace of Mega Man anywhere, but their search for the Blue Bomber was interrupted with a ringtone that sounded an awful lot like a fanfare. Snake, having found Cloud's phone on the ground, picked it up and answered, greeting the person on the other end with, "This is Snake. What're you doing calling this number?"

Dr. Mario's voice came through, saying, "Do you have any idea where Cloud is? We need to talk with him and whoever else you have with you."

"You... haven't seen a blue robot anywhere, have you?"

"Oh, Mega Man's with us. He'll be fine. Why do you ask?"

Cloud had overheard the voices, and he walked into the picture, answering with, "We got attacked by a giant octopus and now we're inside this cave with no way out-"

In the distance, Isaac's voice yelled back, "I think we have to swim through here!"

Snake snuck out of the frame while Cloud groaned before hanging up. Turning back to the others, Snake said, "Astro Boy's fine. And Isaac, what were you saying about swimming?"

* * *

Upon hearing the dial tone, Mario found Little Mac's number and dialed the number.

* * *

Inside a small village, Little Mac's communication device buzzed in his bag, and he dug through the bag, tossing out several other items before finally finding the little thing. Picking it up, he answered with, "Hello?"

"Ah, Mac! How are-a you?"

"Shh! Not too loud! I'm kinda... in a bad spot."

To say it was a bad spot was putting it lightly, as Captain Falcon, Villager, and the Mii Swordfighter were all patrolling the village in search for any insurgents. Everyone else in his group was planning to ambush the three of them and bring them back, but so far, the best plan they had involved Diddy's seemingly endless stockpile of Banana Peels, as well as every last bit of ammunition that belonged to Meggy and Evan.

"Can you call later, maybe? We're setting up traps right now."

Mac hung up before Mario could say anything, and the boxer, once he saw that everything was set up, called everyone over, and said, "Alright, look, so here's how we're gonna do this..."

* * *

Snake passed out breathing apparatuses to everyone but Wario, who had insisted that he would be just fine without one, and motioned for them all to jump into the water. Wario established a quick lead, with Snake and Link following closely behind. Isaac, after a close call regarding an explosive mine and its shrapnel, began to swim faster, and Cloud swam through the water in a bored fashion. Wario had beaten up a Mama Saw and was brandishing the fish like it was a chainsaw, causing Snake to look at the treasure hunter in an unimpressed fashion, while Link was detonating Remote Bombs and dropping diving helms with Magnesis onto the fish and mines to clear a path. Cloud was trying to catch some fast-swimming fish, and the ex-SOLDIER member managed to net a few before passing them over to Link. The Hylian Champion saw Cloud trying to find food and passed his path-clearing duties onto Isaac, and he instead began to forage for food, given that he hadn't eaten in a while.

After they had passed a specific distance, a loud rumble sounded throughout the cavern, and numerous blocks of spiky coral fell from the ceiling. Swimming even further, the group found what looked like a dead end. Isaac, through the apparatus, garbled, "That's it?"

The Adept's question was soon answered with a resounding "no," as all of a sudden, numerous tentacles tore through the wall, ripping it apart, and lo and behold, Squiddicus had shown himself once more. The massive cephalopod roared, and began to create a toxic cloud of ink that began rising rather quickly. Snake frantically motioned for everyone to begin swimming, and everyone began swimming like their life depended on it, which wasn't far off from the truth. Wario found a wall that looked like it was breakable, and in his panic, he punched it, and swam through the hole he created. Link noticed Wario swimming into a chamber, and he pointed to the location, telling everyone that that was the location they were supposed to go to.

Once everyone swam through, they found an alcove at which they could rest up. Snake and Cloud hoisted themselves up before helping everyone else, and they all agreed to make a stop here temporarily.

* * *

Villager, still under the corrupting influence of a Spirit, heard what sounded like explosives going off on the roof of one of the houses, and he began climbing up the building, only to find... nothing except for a handful of ink splatters. Turning around, he heard a rattling sound that sounded like it was coming from the alleyway. Running over, he lifted the lids off two trash cans, and again found nothing. Now that he was getting frustrated, he slammed the lids on the ground, only to get hit by a stray Banana Peel. Looking behind him, Villager saw the outline of what looked like Diddy Kong running away, and he began to give chase, only to be stopped by the cocking of a gun. In front of him was Evan, and behind him was Meggy, both of them pointing their Splattershots at his head.

 _"Now, this is a misunderstanding..."_

The mayor of Smashville never got to finish his sentence, as he was blasted by both squid-kids, making his vision go blue.

"Evan, check his eyelids!"

The Roller aficionado did just that, and underneath the kid's eyelids, his eyes seemed to be reverting to their normal black.

Captain Falcon heard something that sounded like gunshots, and he unholstered his pistol before cautiously walking over to investigate. Peering into the nearby alley, he almost dropped his gun in surprise upon seeing Villager lying on the ground, unambiguously knocked out. Now that the Spirit residing in the F-Zero racer's body was rattled, Diddy Kong jumped down from his hiding spot and began wailing on Captain Falcon, cracking his visor and ripping his scarf, among other things. The bounty hunter dropped his gun in the scuffle, and Diddy scrambled for it, pointing it at Captain Falcon like he had with the various firearms from previous tournaments. Letting out a threatening growl, Diddy bared his teeth, revealing the sharp fangs that resided in the back of his mouth. Behind him, Falcon heard the clicking of two other guns, and he realized it was time to fold.

Diddy held up a sign, which read, "Give up, or we shoot you. That understood?"

Now with no other choice, the red tint in Falcon's visor disappeared, and the bounty hunter, now back to normal, snatched the gun back from Diddy and reholstered it, laughing, "Now THAT was good! You've gotten a lot better with the whole intimidation thing, little buddy!" Turning around, he saw the two squid-kids from the Newcomer Ceremony, and gave them his signature salute, asking, "What brings you to the tournament?"

Evan said nothing, as he had fainted from sheer joy, while Meggy responded with, "We received invites from that giant hand! Can you... do a Falcon Punch?"

"I don't see why not."

Meggy quickly pulled out her SquidCell 6, and began to record a video.

 **"FALCOOOOON... PUUUNCH!"**

Meggy flashed a thumbs-up once he had finished the move, indicating that it was all good now. Villager, having woken up, groaned, "Ugh... what happened?"

Someone shoved a sign into his face that read, "We need to find a way to that giant ball of light in the sky."

"You mean the Sun?"

The sign flipped, and it now read, "No, no, no, the OTHER one."

"What do you mean, the other one- ohhhhhh..."

Seeing the winged ball of light up in the sky was all the confirmation Villager needed, and Smashville's mayor pumped his fist, saying, "We can do this, let's go!"

Evan, having come to, interrupted, saying, "We do need to get the Swordfighter back, though..."

Ryu and Little Mac were attempting to do just that, but the Mii Swordfighter was just too nimble, too quick, and most importantly, that sword of his prevented the other two from getting up close, as he would just simply bat them away, putting them back at square one. Flourishing with the sword and pointing it at the two of them, the Mii taunted, _"'The punch is mightier than the sword.' What a load of crap! What good are your fists against the cold steel of my blade?"_

"You talk a big game, but can your sword do _this_?"

Ryu fired a Shakunetsu Hadoken at the Mii Swordfighter, providing a distraction that lasted long enough for Little Mac to charge in and blast him with a cross. Flying across the town square, the Swordfighter jammed his blade into the ground to stop his momentum, carving a massive gash through the stone. Seeing the two heading for him, he lunged forward with Power Thrust, but missed, which allowed for Ryu to juggle him up in the air before finishing with a Shin Shoryuken, sending the Mii flying sky-high.

Mac, undoing the straps on his boxing gloves, quipped, "Guess the punch really is mightier than the sword."

Mac sidestepped the incoming Mii, and he and Ryu hoisted him back to the alley where they agreed to meet the others. Diddy Kong clapped enthusiastically upon seeing the Mii Swordfighter, who had just come to. Shaking himself out of the grip of Mac and Ryu, he asked, "What happened?"

A wooden sign appeared in front of him, which read, "Remember the Master Core?"

"Yeah?"

"It's like that, only way, way worse."

"Well, what are we waiting for? If there's a world to save, let's go!"

Leading the group, the Mii Swordfighter charged out into the open, the others following. Out of the corner of his eye, Villager saw the Blue Falcon parked at the go-kart track, and he Pocketed it, much to the shock of Captain Falcon, whose jaw was left hanging open.

* * *

Snake and his group dived back into the water, but now, the octopus from earlier was watching their every move, as evidenced by Isaac seeing a large eyeball behind a rock face that was following them. In front of the Smashers, a pair of tentacles blocked their path, and seemed to obstruct every possible exit they could've taken. Wario, getting fed up with the whole thing, swam over and tied the tentacles together in a knot, allowing safe passage through. After a moment of staring at the treasure hunter in amazement, everyone else swam past the tentacles, Wario following close behind.

At the end of the ruins, Cloud saw that they were out in the open ocean, given how clear that the water was, and he motioned for the others to begin swimming. However, Squiddicus reappeared, and roared in anger, having thrown the possibility of a snack out of the window, now wanting to see them dead instead. Wario, in a panic, accidentally swam into a bubble, transforming into Bubble Wario, which caused him to float to the surface. Snake and Cloud stared, the breathing apparatuses almost falling out of their mouths before they joined Isaac and Link in attempting to cram into a bubble.

On the surface, Wario's bubble popped, and he comfortably landed on top of a palm tree. Before he could relax, however, another bubble that contained the other four members of his group appeared next to him and popped, catapulting him out of the tree and onto the sandy floor. Before he could get too annoyed with the four of them interrupting what little leisure time he had, a monstrous roar brought their attention back to Squiddicus, who snatched Link in his slimy grasp. Isaac's eyes flashed purple, and he let loose with another Thunderhead, supercharging the water while Snake threw a brick of C4 at the monstrous octopus, managing to stick it on its eye. Link pulled out his Ancient Bow and shot Squiddicus in the other eye, causing the cephalopod to drop him, but before he hit the water, he grabbed onto a nearby rock face, and began to climb back up to the others.

As Squiddicus was rubbing his zapped eye in pain, Snake detonated the brick of C4, blowing apart a chunk of his face, which killed him. Right before the octopus sunk beneath the waves, everyone ended up getting a good look at the inside of his head, which caused Snake and Cloud to retch in disgust, Link and Isaac to puke into a nearby bush, and Wario to sit down on a tiny green shrub... only for the shrub to stab him in the butt, causing him to yelp in pain.

At the same time, Cloud ended up getting eaten by Yoshi, who pooped out the ex-SOLDIER as a Yoshi Egg. To Snake, the whole situation would've been funny if the stakes weren't so high. Yoshi swallowed a nearby watermelon and began to shoot the seeds at Snake, who cursed as he ran in circles around the dinosaur, who shot seeds in place as if he was a turret. Link threw up his Hylian Shield in front of Snake, while Isaac planted his hand on the ground to cast Mad Growth, causing a tangle of vines to swarm towards Yoshi.

The shrub from earlier had shaken off its disguise, revealing that it was Toon Link. Cloud broke out of the egg, only to be met with that tiny version of Link from the previous tournament. Casting Matra Magic, Cloud directed a swarm of missiles at the kid before following up with Fira. Toon Link blocked most of the missiles with his shield, but was pushed back by the others before getting the full brunt of the Fira. As he tried to recover, Wario charged at him like an enraged bull, sending him flying into a tree, which dropped a cluster of coconuts onto Toon Link's head, knocking him out. As Cloud tried to join the others against Yoshi, that nagging voice that still plagued him drawled, _"So, Cloud... would you like to see my mother?"_

Cloud rolled his eyes, having seen enough of JENOVA for a lifetime, and jumped back into the fight with an overhead slash. Yoshi rolled out of the way of the Buster Sword, but got caught by a Bomb Arrow from Link, which, unlike Toon Link, had only knocked him away a small distance. Letting out a low growl, Yoshi swallowed a nearby blue melon and breathed a chilling wind at Link, freezing the Hylian Champion in a skintight prison of ice. Looking over at Wario, Yoshi decided to freeze him next, as he knew that the treasure hunter was tough to bring down. before he could, however, Isaac hit him with the butt of the Gaia Blade, causing the dinosaur to accidentally expend the rest of his ice breath, and Snake planted a landmine in the ground before gesturing at Isaac to finish the job.

Using Carry, he dragged Yoshi over to the landmine before dropping him onto it and squashing him with the hand. Yoshi got up immediately after... but his eyes were now back to their normal blue, and when he looked up, he saw a small star above his head.

 _"Guess that means we've got another world to save, right?"_

"Well... you're not wrong. Also, how did you eat those melons?"

 _"Why does it not surprise me that you're the one asking this, Snake... anyways, the Fire Melon's flesh is spicier than even the Superspicy Curry, while the Frost Melon is more like eating watermelon-flavored ice cream. As for regular old Bullet Melons... it's simple."_

Toon Link woke up, and asked, "Okay, we're stuck on an island, so how do we get out?"

Isaac pointed at what appeared to be yet another Lemurian ship, and he asked, "Seriously, just how many of these exist in the world?!"

Later, once everyone had stockpiled fruit and fish (the latter courtesy of Link, whose teeth were still chattering), Isaac activated the Black Orb, and the ship set sail in search of land.

* * *

"Wait... you can do that with MY CAR?!"

Villager, who had just casually Pocketed the Blue Falcon like it was nothing, replied, "I mean, they sell tiny replicas of them in Smashville as a raffle prize... and that's the best explanation I have. But hey, at least you don't have to worry about running out of gas now, right?"

"Well, whatever works..."

The seven of them stepped into what looked like Pac-Maze, where, unknown to them, Duon was guarding Pac-Man.

* * *

 **Real talk, would you guys like to see some Assists have boss fights? I'm only gauging interest here.**

 **Irate Eight is one of the best levels in _Tropical Freeze_ , if only for that awesome remix of Lockjaw's Saga.**

 **Reviews are always welcome, dear readers, so don't be afraid to leave one!**


	20. The Final Frontier

**Don't be afraid to leave reviews, they're always welcome! And on that note...**

 _ **"We are the seven Star Children of the Mushroom World, and we're gonna take you down!"**_

 _ **"Wow, you can speak a whole sentence without the tic?"**_

 _ **"Shut it, Wario."**_

* * *

Mario reached a new area of the Icicle Mountain, which turned out to be a large, snowy plateau with something out in the distance. Behind him, Popo, Nana, Matthew, and Donkey Kong hauled themselves to the top, and finally, Simon and Pit, the latter shivering in the cold, reached the plateau, Simon having used his Vampire Killer as a tether. Looking forward, Donkey Kong signed to the others, "I think that's the Great Fox over there..."

A sudden yell of, _"FIRE!"_ caught them off guard, and everyone scrambled to avoid getting hit by Fox. The leader of the Star Fox team skidded to a stop in the snow, before drawing his Blaster and pointing it at the group of Smashers, saying, _"Not another step."_

Donkey Kong cracked his knuckles in a threatening fashion before grabbing Pit and throwing him at Fox. Pit, though he was caught off guard, began spinning Palutena's Bow, managing to catch him with the blades. Switching his Blaster's laser cartridges from "chip away" to "kill," Fox fired, and a green laser shot out, which Pit barely reflected with the Guardian Orbitars, sending the laser off into the distance.

Shuffling Djinn, Matthew summoned Ulysses, and the legendary mage appeared behind him. Uttering an incantation, four blue bolts of energy flew from around the wizard before he disappeared, homing in on Fox. Jumping over one laser, Fox zipped out of the way of the other one using Fox Illusion, and got grazed by a third before using his Reflector to make one rebound towards Simon, who slid under the laser before grounding Fox by shackling his ankle with the Vampire Killer and slamming him into the snow, right where Donkey Kong was waiting. With an almost psychotic grin on his face, DK began beating the tar out of Fox, right until Fox pulled out his Blaster and pointed it at Donkey Kong's head.

The ape proved to be smarter than he looked, and he retreated before Fox fired. Before he could do anything more, though, Mario threw him into the grasp of Popo and Nana, who then began the combination attack that made them so feared during the third tournament. Popo slammed Fox behind him and into the clutches of Nana, who slammed him down into the snow. Before Fox could recover, Popo grabbed him again to repeat the process ad infinitum. Preparing to swing his Ultra Hammer like a golf club, Mario signaled for Nana to hit Fox towards him. The Ice Climber clad in pink obliged, and Mario swung as hard as he could, sending Fox flying across the plateau, only stopping near the Great Fox, causing Donkey Kong to run over to him and bring him to the group.

Dropping Fox onto the snow, the Smashers waited for the one who had led them to the Craggy Outlook to awaken, Popo and Nana holding their Squall Hammers with caution. Fox came to, his eyes having changed to their normal green, and he stood up, asking, "D'oh... my head... what even happened at the Craggy Outlook?"

Just as Mario was about to answer, he was interrupted by a loud roar which left everyone dazed.

The Rathalos had found its prey.

Swooping down, the dragon snatched Simon in its talons, digging into the Belmont's flesh. Despite the pain from the poison, Simon, still holding his whip, began repeatedly whipping at Rathalos' soft underbelly, and the dragon roared in pain before dropping to the ground, planting Simon in the snow. Turning its eyes towards the kid who looked like a Monster Hunter, Rathalos screeched, and charged right at Matthew.

Using whatever Djinn he had left on standby, in a panic, Matthew summoned Crystallux, and the crystalline dragon, twinkling even in the cloudy sky, emitted a bright flash, which stopped the Rathalos right in its tracks, leaving it stunned. Mario, Popo, Nana, and Donkey Kong took advantage by hammering away at its tail, which seemed like the least risky place to hit. Much to their surprise, the tail dropped a handful of Deku Nuts, and Mario scooped them up, pocketing them for future use. Recovering, the Rathalos roared, sending the four of them flying, before it took flight. Shooting three fireballs onto the ground, the beast flew up to watch the fireballs detonate into a sort of firebomb, which Matthew was forced to block by using Chasm. Fox called for his Arwing, and he jumped into the ship as it flew underneath him. As he landed back in his natural setting, he said to himself, "It's go time!"

Weaving behind Rathalos, Fox fired a burst of lasers at the dragon, who screeched in pain before clumsily swatting the air with its talons, not even bothering to properly aim. Down on the ground, Mario turned to Donkey Kong and told him, "Give me a boost!" With a thumbs-up, Donkey Kong obliged, throwing Mario into the air, and Pit jumped up with all his might, also helped by Matthew using Lift on him, allowing him to clobber the Rathalos in the face with a meaty blow from his Upperdash Arm. Mario was next, and he swung his Ultra Hammer with such force that some of the beast's scales cracked, downing the dragon.

Fox, having landed his Arwing, also opened the garage in the Great Fox to park it, and he ran back to the others.

"So, why did this-a big dragon attack us?"

Fox responded with, "I'm not too sure about that, Mario."

They were interrupted by the sound of a charging fireball, and all of them balked upon seeing fire building up in the Rathalos' mouth. Wasting no time, Simon chained its jaw shut with the Vampire Killer while Donkey Kong held the snout and chin together for good measure, and when the fireball backfired, the dragon's body shuddered before lying still, the corpse smoking from being cooked from the inside out.

After a long silence, Matthew, with a nervous chuckle, asked, "So... how 'bout lunch?"

* * *

Yoshi, having drawn a short straw when it came to cleaning the lower decks, entered a musty storage room, burping out a flashlight that he held with his tongue for improved visibility. Sifting through a box filled with ancient texts, he heard a _"Pika pika!"_ coming from behind a large box in the back. Looking behind the box, he saw Pikachu, his eyes flashing red. With a small growl, the Mouse Pokémon leaped out from behind the box in an attempt to attack Yoshi, but the dinosaur was already halfway out the door. Swallowing his flashlight, he ran towards the upper deck in an attempt to expose Pikachu's presence to the other Smashers, and Pikachu took the bait hook, line, and sinker, tailing behind the omnivorous dinosaur.

Reaching the upper deck, Yoshi slammed the door shut on Pikachu, and Snake looked at the dinosaur with a confused expression before the door to the lower deck exploded thanks to Pikachu using Wild Charge. Now out on the deck, Pikachu jumped onto his tail before spinning on it, a trick he had learned from the Cosplay Pikachu he had met during a trip to Hoenn.

Speaking of the Cosplay Pikachu, Pikachu, who had taken an interest in cosplay thanks to her, switched into a chef's outfit and spit out a stream of scalding hot water before batting it towards Link with a frying pan. Link ducked the glob of scalding hot water that came his way, but his cartoonish counterpart wasn't as lucky, and got a blast of hot water right to the face, putting him out of commission for the time being. Yoshi asked, _"Wait, since when could he use Scald-"_

He was interrupted by Pikachu switching into a wizard's outfit, and he cast Mystical Fire, which Yoshi ate and spat back out in the form of fireballs.

"Grr... just hold still for a damn second!"

Snake fired his Nikita while Pikachu was in a duel with Isaac, having switched into an outfit that was pretty much a 1:1 replica of Cloud's SOLDIER outfit, gaining a bevy of sword moves. Pikachu then began dancing in a frenzied fashion while juggling his miniature Buster Sword, and he began to hammer away at Isaac with newfound vigor. Cloud, who was observing the fight with Wario, snarked, "I'm not sure whether I should be impressed or offended."

That earned him a wicked Thunderbolt courtesy of Pikachu, who was then hit by the Nikita missile. Switching to a thick parka with a gun strapped to a backpack, Pikachu fired Sheer Cold, resulting in the entire deck shining with a coat of frost. Isaac, holding the Mysterious Card in front of him, gestured with the card, and he cast Fiery Juggle, the numerous balls of fire thawing the deck.

Switching into a Zeraora costume, Pikachu charged in, his paws electrified. Rolling out of the way, Isaac shouted to everyone else, "Hold your breath!" before casting Poison Flow, and a thick miasma of rotting corpses filled the air, forcing Pikachu to stop his onslaught to protect his lungs. That was all the opportunity Isaac needed, as he ran up to Pikachu and kicked him in the gut, forcing Pikachu to drop his hands from his nose and to his abdomen. One whiff of the toxic cloud was too much for the Mouse Pokémon, and he fainted. Once that was done, Wario inhaled the whole cloud of noxious gas using Hyper Suction, burping out a purple skull-shaped cloud, and Cloud slowly shuffled away from him.

Picking his nose, Wario looked at him and asked, "What? That wasn't as stinky as last year's!"

Yoshi picked up Pikachu by the tail and tossed him to Snake, who placed Pikachu in a small hammock before returning to watching the ship.

* * *

"WAUGH!"

Captain Falcon leaped out of the path of an angry Pac-Man, who had found trespassers in his domain, possibly for a snack. That did not sit lightly with the glutton, and he munched on a Power Pellet, dead set on chasing them out of the maze. What he _didn't_ expect, however, was for his power to run out so quickly, and he was left in his regular state in front of a kid who dropped a bowling ball straight on his head, making his vision go black.

When he came to, Pac-Man saw that he was surrounded by familiar faces... and those two squid kids. Sitting up, he acknowledged everyone, before asking, "So, whose butt do we have to kick this time?"

He was answered by something loud crashing behind him. Looking back, Pac-Man balked at what he saw. A gigantic robot, that was colored blue, pink, red, and orange, that was also outfitted with numerous weapons, was staring right back at him. Falcon and Diddy took one look at the robot, and Falcon yelled, _"RUN!"_

Duon rotated to its red face, and fired a round of dark energy bullets from its gunblade, causing the Smashers to run deeper into the maze. With a distorted laugh, Duon's wheels began spinning, and it gave chase.

* * *

With a roar, the Great Fox achieved liftoff, and Mario took off into the reaches of space courtesy of a nearby Launch Star, yelling back, "Try to-a keep up with meeeee!"

Munching on a cut of Rathalos meat, Matthew, through a mouthful of food, asked, "So, does crazy shit like this happen all the time?"

Donkey Kong signed at him, "I mean, nearly all of our number save Dr. Mario and Daisy have been to space at least once, so it's not that absurd. Heck, I even punched the moon out of orbit with a little help from Diddy!"

"Wha... punched the moon... oh, forget it."

Fox, in the pilot's seat, asked, "Well, do you remember that speech I gave at the Mansion before everything went to hell?"

"Vaguely."

"The first tournament was simple. No conflicts or anything of that kind. The second one was a bit more hectic, especially with the whole Giga Bowser debacle. The third is where everything went pear-shaped, because of the whole Subspace mess. The fourth had the Master Core incident in the middle, but it was smooth sailings after that. So, to answer your question, yes."

Mario then flew in front of the cockpit, startling Fox and said, "There's an Arwing on that-a system of planets to the left! Race you there!"

Mario took off, and Fox flew close behind in hopes of finding Falco on the snowy planet below.

Touching down on Fichina, Fox ran after Mario, who was already running towards where he had seen the ship, while the others were instructed to wait inside the Great Fox. Mario had reached the Arwing, and said to Fox, "Here it is! I'm-a sure that-a Falco should be here somewhere..." Fox knocked on the cockpit of the ruined Arwing, but got no response. However, the clicking of a gun and a voice saying, _"What brings you here?"_ made Fox and Mario turn around, Mario having his trusty Cape at the ready.

 _"It's quite impressive that you've made it this far, but this is where your journey ends. See-"_

Falco never got to finish his sentence, as Mario simply chucked Cappy at the bird, successfully Capturing him. Fox found the ensuing beatdown Mario made Falco give to himself quite amusing, and when Mario had done his part, he froze him solid with an Ice Flower before telling Fox, "I'll get the-a ship, you get your-a wingman thawed out."

Ignoring the awful, yet accurate pun, Fox asked, "Wait, but that ship's iced over! How could you possibly-"

Mario heaved the ship up, spun it around a few times, and chucked it towards the Great Fox. Looking at the Star Fox team's captain, Mario said, " _That's-a_ how." Reminding himself to not pick a fight with Mario, Fox simply carried Falco back to the ship so that Matthew could thaw him out, and Mario jumped into another Launch Star, taking off into the abyss of deep space.

Flying around (with an assist from the Red Star he had saved), Mario, thanking the fact that he had the Bottomless Gloves, spotted what looked like a Spirit Orb blocking the way to a cluster of stars, and flew over to it. Fox, watching from a distance, asked, "So, we're helping him, right?"

Donkey Kong and Pit gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up, Matthew and Simon less so, while Popo and Nana were simply asleep, leaning on each other for support. Diverting course, Fox flew the ship into the Spirit Orb Mario had entered.

* * *

Jumping off of the Great Fox, Donkey Kong and Pit touched down on a platform near Wily Castle, where Mario was already engaged in a battle with three Snakes who were throwing grenades and C4s everywhere, blanketing everything in front of Mario with explosions. Pit grumbled, "Well, that's the thing about Snake that I DIDN'T miss," and Donkey Kong nodded in agreement before running over to Mario.

The two of them ran up to Mario just as he reflected a grenade back at the trio of Snakes, and he said to the two, "Okie-dokie, here's how it's-a gonna go: Pit, use your Guardian Orbitars to-a reflect anything they send at us. Donkey Kong, you still got that-a Coconut Gun?"

DK brandished the firearm, nodding enthusiastically, and Pit asked, "What about you, Mario?"

Brandishing Cappy, Mario said, "Let's just say that I'll be-a going for a hat trick." Donkey Kong facepalmed at the awful joke, while Pit suppressed a snicker before putting up his Orbitars as a shield. Sliding under a grenade, Mario threw Cappy at the first Snake and successfully Captured him, before dropping a brick of C4 at the trio's feet. Exiting out of the body, Mario snatched the detonator and said, "Hasta la vista, Snake!"

Clicking the detonator, the three of them exploded in a massive conflagration, but when the smoke cleared, there were still two Snakes standing, albeit heavily damaged from the C4 blowing up their grenades. One of the Snakes pulled out an assault rifle and was about to open fire, but, Mario Captured him and forced him to cast the weapon into the ravine down below, followed by a Homing Coconut right on the noggin which knocked him out cold. Laughing, Donkey Kong signed, "Coconuts are nature's greatest weapon and you can't convince me otherwise."

"But what about the-a Crystal Coco-"

"We're not talking about that, especially since K. Rool's in the tournament now."

"How about later?" Mario then threw Cappy onto the last Snake standing, and he jumped into the ravine until he reached the absolute lowest point that he could recover, and he released Snake. Pulling out the Cypher, Snake attempted to make it back on stage, but an overhead punch from Mario put a stop to that. Once Mario made it back, three Spirit Orbs came together, forming a Spirit Orb that held a robot that looked like a walking arsenal of explosives, even more so than Snake. DK, carrying Pit and Mario, jumped back into the Great Fox with the Spirit Orb in tow.

* * *

Now back in space, Mario hopped into a nearby Launch Star and flew back to the star cluster that he had been planning to go to before he ran into the Spirit Orb. On the ship, Pit asked DK, "So, what's so bad about King K. Rool?"

Donkey Kong signed, "That Kremling slob is the root of all of my problems. Stole my bananas and kidnapped me twice." Through visuals, he began telling the story of his nephew's chaotic showdown with K. Rool on Crocodile Isle.

* * *

 _On the Flying Krock, DK's relief immediately turned to pain when Kaptain K. Rool started hitting him with his blunderbuss and shooting kannonballs at him point-blank. Diddy and Dixie reacted in horror, and Donkey Kong's rope was pulled up, forcing him to watch the whole battle from up above. Periodically, the rope was lowered whenever K. Rool was downed, but the Kremling leader just popped right back up again and forced the rope back to its original position. Finally, after the blunderbuss backfired on K. Rool for a **ninth** time, the Kremling leader fell down, and Donkey Kong took the opportunity to break free of his bonds. Seeing the look of panic on Diddy and Dixie's faces, he finally broke free from the rope, and just as K. Rool rose again, DK yelled, "Here comes the BANANA... SLAMMA!"_

 _A massive uppercut sent K. Rool through the roof of the Flying Krock and into the shark-infested waters down below. Wiping his hands in satisfaction, Donkey Kong, with Diddy and Dixie following, walked to one of Funky's airports for an easy flight back to Donkey Kong Island._

* * *

"...and that's why."

"Wow..."

Matthew interrupted, asking, "By the way, why is Mario flying right into those stars?"

Falco, who had recovered from being stuck in an ice block, remarked, "Well, most of us know of his reputation up here thanks to the space princess, so we typically just leave him to do his own thing. But hey, if you want a turn to fly into space, then the Launch Star's right there."

Leaping out of his seat, Matthew jumped into the Launch Star, taking off after Mario. After an awkward silence, Falco went to the copilot's seat.

* * *

Landing on the Eternal Star, Mario took in his surroundings. Above him, the seven Star Pieces, having restored the Star Road all those years ago, twinkled brightly in the dark vacuum of space. His moment of admiring the scenery was soon done, however, as Matthew crash landed right next to him. Dusting himself off, Matthew asked, "So, what're we doing here?"

The clicking of a firearm made the both of them turn around, and Geno said, _"I would ask you two the same question."_

* * *

 **And that's another chapter in the books! Judging by what the reviews have said, it seems that people would like to see some Assist Trophies as boss fights. If you leave a review, be sure to also tell me which Assist you'd like to see!**


	21. Emotions on High Pressure

**Once more, reviews are welcome and encouraged, as feedback is the best thing a writer can receive.**

 ** _"The last time I heard the word 'miracle,' I had to kill my father in order to save the world, so no, I DON'T believe in miracles."_**

* * *

"Go, Kirby, go!"

Everyone else save Ridley was cheering the pink puffball, as he was currently challenging King Dedede in a Gourmet Race, with the condition that if he won, Dedede would be released from his possession. Inhaling one last plate of pasta, Kirby crossed the finish line before Dedede did, and with twenty items of food eaten to Dedede's seventeen. Dedede, huffing and puffing, crossed the finish line before collapsing in a heap. The Spirit possessing Dedede conceded defeat, and exited its vessel, leaving a very exhausted monarch on the floor.

Nudging the penguin, Kirby jumped back in surprise as he leaped up, and Dedede exclaimed, "I'm awake!" Looking around, saw a massive group of Smashers spectating what appeared to be the Gourmet racecourse, and he waved, yelling, "So good to see y'all again! I thought we were good as dead when everyone got vaporized!"

Everyone else waved at Dedede, Luigi in particular was especially happy to see him again, given his, Ness', and Dedede's exploits in Subspace. Before anyone could start celebrating, however, the Halberd passed over the area, dispersing a large amount of Shadow Bugs. Slowly, they began to take the form of Primids and many other enemies that were familiar to the Smashers.

Ridley screeched, before grabbing what looked like a Kracko and ripping it apart with his claws, and the fight was on.

* * *

On the deck, Cloud absently grabbed a random Spirit Orb that happened to float by, which sucked in him along with Yoshi, who had just taken out a crate of fruit.

* * *

Landing in a body of water, Yoshi got up first, and said, _"Wait, this wasn't on the registered stage list for the tournament..."_

Cloud got up next, and was immediately plagued by bad memories. He was back right in the place he swore he would never return to: the City of the Ancients (or the Cetra, whatever they were called). Walking up to the place where _that_ had happened, Cloud absently stared at the flowers he had left in memory of Aerith before walking down to where Yoshi was calling for him.

Sighing, Cloud asked, "What is it now?" Yoshi pointed to the pool of water where he had laid Aerith to rest, and Cloud could've sworn he had gone crazy. Zelda was standing in the pool, but she resembled Aerith a great deal, with the brown hair, red jacket, and pink dress. In shock, Cloud breathed, "No way..." and ran over to where Zelda was. Extending a hand, he pulled her out of the water.

 _"Whew! Thanks for that, it felt like I woke up from a REALLY long sleep-"_ Looking at her savior, Zelda/Aerith asked, _"Cloud?"_

Tears of joy sprung to Cloud's eyes, and he grabbed her in a crushing embrace, choking out apologies for not saving her when he had the chance. Aerith patted him on the back in a comforting fashion, saying, _"I don't blame you for any of that."_

"You... don't?"

Giggling, Aerith responded, _"Of course not! I was the one that was stupid enough to come here alone in the first place. You even tried to stop me from going solo, for crying out loud!"_

Walking over, Yoshi said, _"Um, this reunion has been very sweet, but I think that we have a party crasher on our hands..."_ Jerking a thumb behind him, the dinosaur pointed to a man with silver hair holding a massive sword.

Cloud's eyes narrowed in fury, and in a low, monotonous tone, he told Yoshi, "Stay behind and guard Aerith."

 _"You sure? That sword's pretty big-"_

"This is personal."

The iciness in Cloud's voice told Yoshi that he was serious, and he instructed Zelda/Aerith to hop on before running away with her in tow.

Unfurling his black wing, Sephiroth said, "It's good to see you again, Cl-"

Cloud had already gotten Omnislash fully charged in the time that Sephiroth had begun his monologue, and rushed in before rapidly slashing at him and bringing the Buster Sword down on his head for the final hit. Somehow, Sephiroth, though heavily battered, was not dead, and he hissed, "You haven't seen the last of me..." before vanishing.

Yoshi ran back, asking, _"Is the threat gone?"_

"Yeah." To himself, he muttered, "For now, at least."

Aerith/Zelda hopped off of the dinosaur, and said to Cloud, _"My guess is that you've got to save the world again, right?"_

"How did you know?"

 _"Sephiroth showing up in here was all I needed to piece it together."_ Laughing, she planted a kiss on Cloud's cheek before glowing with a bright light. When the light faded, where Zelda/Aerith once stood, a Spirit Orb with Aerith's likeness inside it was floating in Cloud's hands. With Aerith's visage smiling at him, Cloud, having received absolution for the incident in the City of the Ancients, was warped back to the ship, with Yoshi in tow.

* * *

Back on the Lemurian ship, Cloud asked Snake for the Spirit Pouch, and the mercenary passed it to Cloud, who put Aerith's Spirit Orb into the bag. Smiling wistfully, Cloud thought, _"What I wouldn't give to let you have a second chance..."_

* * *

"There it is! The heart of Pac-Maze!"

Captain Falcon skidded to a stop, and looked at the pulsating red, blue, pink, and orange core in the center, before saying, "Well, what's it supposed to do?!"

Pac-Man responded with, "It's what powers Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde!"

Villager asked, "And how's that important?"

"I have a hunch: that robot is being powered by something, and it's got red, orange, blue, and pink sides. Red's got a gunblade, Blinky's the most powerful and the most aggressive ghost. Orange has shields, Clyde just likes to do his own thing. Blue and pink, well... Inky does well increasing pressure up close, while Pinky is great at forcing movement traps. So we just need to destroy the core, and the robot will shut down."

A bullet of dark energy narrowly grazed Little Mac, and he yelled, "Guys? The robot's _right behind us_ _!_ "

"Wait, what?"

Pac-Man, unfazed, yelled, "Hit that thing with the hardest attacks you've got!"

Duon began rapidly swiveling between its red, pink, and blue sides in an attempt to ward off any possible attacks, so when Little Mac used his K.O. Uppercut on no target in particular, he actually managed to knock off one of the blades on Duon's blue side. Switching targets to Little Mac, the robot switched to the pink face and fired a bright pink laser, which Little Mac barely managed to dodge.

"Falcon... **_PUNCH!_** "

Through the use of his signature move, Captain Falcon destroyed the orange facet of the core, and when Duon swiveled to its orange side, it darkened, and Mac punched through it with ease. Taking some breaths to calm himself, the Bruiser from the Bronx leaped into the robot in an attempt to destroy it from the inside.

Captain Falcon had shattered the pink part of the core, and Duon's pink side stopped functioning, now hanging onto the robot like dead weight. Meggy and Evan began inking the terrain in order to make the robot slip, and Ryu was ripping off whatever he could find in an attempt to stop Duon. Diddy overloaded one of his Popguns, and dropped it next to the core, motioning for everyone else to stay clear. As they dove for cover, the popgun exploded, and the robot twitched and spasmed as its blue core was destroyed, leaving its red side as the only functioning quadrant.

Inside Duon, Mac was punching his way through the numerous circuit boards, and found one of its servos completely unguarded, a complete contrast to the near impenetrable metal squares on the outside that protected them. Behind him, he heard the Swordfighter yell, "Hah! Take that, you technological fiend!"

Shattering the motor with one punch, Mac jumped out of the robot just as the Mii plunged his sword into the robot's main CPU, causing it to shut down. Walking back to the others, he said, "That _was_ pretty easy, was it not?"

Pac-Man responded with, "Yeah, I guess it was," before punching the orb off its pedestal, causing it to shatter. The red quadrant disappeared, and much to the dot muncher's surprise, the four ghosts appeared all around the Smashers.

Blinky called out, _"Now THAT was wicked! Also, thanks for the freedom, Pac-Dude!"_

Inky said, _"Now that we've been freed, you guys had best get out of here."_

Confused, Pac-Man asked, "Wait, why?"

Pinky chimed in with, _"Oh, we didn't tell you?"_

Clyde explained, _"See, this maze's existence is bound to us. If we're set free, then the maze no longer exists. You do know what I'm telling you, right?"_

"That we should be getting the heck out of here?"

All four ghosts yelled, _"Good luck, Pac-Man!"_ before disappearing.

Pulling the Blue Falcon out of his pocket, Villager dumped it onto the neon floor and said, "Well, here's our escape vehicle. I think we _might_ be able to just barely squeeze in..."

"Nope, not today, kid." Calling for the Falcon Flyer, the bounty hunter's ship appeared above them, and Villager reluctantly re-Pocketed the Blue Falcon as he and the others boarded the ship.

* * *

Isaac had finally managed to reach a river that led inland, and he smirked to himself, saying, "It's time." Casting Hover, the Wings of Anemos on the sides of the ship unfurled, and the ship took to the skies.

Later, Wario, using a pair of binoculars, yelled out, "We got a ship incoming!"

Everyone else on the deck except for Pikachu echoed, "Ship?!"

As he pointed out into the distance, everyone else saw that the treasure hunter was correct. A bird-like ship was flying in the distance, and Snake called to Isaac, "Set a course for that ship!"

Isaac nodded, and ran back belowdecks to adjust the ship's course.

* * *

Grabbing a Primid by its head, Ridley threw it at a clone of the Fake Kraid before stomping on what appeared to be some sort of demon lady. Behind him, Joker called, "Thanks for the assist!" before shooting the Succubus one more time. Rolling his eyes, the former Space Pirate commander impaled a Mr. I on the tip of his tail before slamming the oversized eyeball onto a Wiggler that Luigi was fighting, causing it to split apart. Recoiling in disgust, the younger Mario brother found himself surrounded by some gravestones with eyeballs on them. Before he could panic, though, Peach broke one using her frying pan, while King Dedede crushed another one with a swing of his Jet Hammer. Pulling out the Poltergust G-00, Luigi shot a plunger at one of them, latching on to it, before hurling it into the abyss below.

Bowser pushed Luigi out of the way, calling back, "Sorry, Green 'Stache!" before sprinting into a shadowy clone of Midbus, who he began to do battle with. Samus, having fished out her still-operational arm cannon out of the bear's backpack (ignoring the bird's indignant squawks), fired a barrage of Super Missiles at a horde of Metal Primids, while up above, Mega Charizard X, with Squirtle and Ivysaur riding on his back, was providing support by doing bombing runs with Squirtle's Water Pulse and Aura Sphere attacks, while Ivysaur rained down botanical destruction with her Seed Bomb. Charizard simply blasted everything below him with Flamethrower, while using Dynamic Punch on the occasional Shadow Pokémon that got in his way.

Greninja was warping in and out of various enemy formations, hitting them with the most powerful attacks he knew, like Gunk Shot and Hydro Pump, before slamming a mat down at the treads of an Armank and flipping it into the air, before repeatedly using Night Slash on it, cracking open its armored shell and exposing the pilot. With a final blow, the shell split in half, before exploding behind Greninja.

The Piranha Plant found itself surrounded by some Leafans, but did not appear to be intimidated, and it spit several globs of poison at the enemies before lighting them on fire. With a satisfied smirk on its face, the plant waddled away from the carnage to join its leader in fighting the Midbus clone.

* * *

"Wait... is that the Falcon Flyer?"

As soon as the words left Snake's mouth, Pikachu perked up, before strapping some balloons to himself. Jumping off the ship, he drifted towards the Falcon Flyer, with the Lemurian ship following close behind.

Inside the Falcon Flyer, Diddy felt something thump on the roof, and got out of his seat to investigate. Opening the hatch on the roof, he was surprised to see Pikachu standing on there. He then held up one of his signs, which read, "What are you doing here?" Pikachu gestured behind him, and Diddy's eyes popped out of his skull.

Behind Pikachu was a large wooden ship that resembled K. Rool's Gangplank Galleon from years past, and Snake and Isaac stood at the bow, yelling, "Hey, get everyone else that's with you on here!"

Later, once everyone else was on the Lemurian ship, Captain Falcon sent away his Falcon Flyer and asked, "So... what do we do now?"

Snake's grim response was, "We fight for the freedom of the others."

* * *

Dr. Mario kicked a Sniper Joe in its midsection before overloading it with bursts of electricity from his palms. Dusting his hands off, he punched a Shadow Beehoss in the honeycombs before his phone went off. Fishing in his pockets, he pulled the device out and answered, "Hello?"

On the other end, Cloud said, "Oh, hey Doc, we just found another group of Smashers."

"You did?" After grabbing the Beehoss with one hand and chucking it off the edge, he continued, "Show me by video."

Cloud did so, and Dr. Mario saw Diddy Kong, the Mii Swordfighter, Captain Falcon, Meggy, Evan, Villager, Little Mac, Pac-Man, and Ryu.

"That's good, now if you'll excuse me, I have a fight to get back to- HOLY RAVIOLI!"

Dr. Mario hung up just as a Shadow Tyranitar landed in front of him, whipping up a blinding sandstorm. Shielding his eyes with his Super Sheet, Stefano attempted to hit the Tyranitar with a Super Jump Punch, but missed due to the Tyranitar sidestepping the attack. His fists crackling with electricity, Dr. Mario charged the Tyranitar, who was charging a Hyper Beam...

* * *

"Geno?"

 _"No, it's clearly Mallow- OF COURSE IT'S GENO!"_

Hefting up the Sol Blade, Matthew yelled, "Megiddo!" and the massive fireball was sent hurtling towards the wooden puppet. Rolling out of the way, Geno fired an explosive mortar shell, and Mario and Matthew scattered as the shell exploded. Pulling out the Lazy Shell, Mario punted it at Geno, while Matthew attempted to bind him in place with Mad Growth. While the puppet broke free of the vines, the shell hit its mark and sent him sprawling. Mario charged at the puppet, who froze due to his lack of close-range options, but instead of tackling him, Mario swiped the cap off of Geno's head and threw Cappy at him, successfully Capturing the puppet.

Mario, inside the body, was immediately met by fierce resistance from the lesser Star Spirit that had possessed the body beforehand, and inside, Geno bellowed, _"Get out of my body!"_

Mario said back, "Not a chance, old friend!"

 _"...Friend?"_

"I mean, that's-a what we are, right?"

 _"What kind of FRIEND leaves someone hanging for twelve long years, huh? You left me behind and never looked back!"_

"I TRIED TO-A COME BACK, OKAY? I never stopped trying for-a those twelve years!" Mario made Geno punch himself in the head one last time, which simultaneously knocked out the puppet and forced Mario out of the body. Matthew was embroiled in his own battle with Sonic, who had suddenly appeared while Mario was busy battling with Geno in the latter's mind.

 _"Ha ha! Looks like you're too slow, blond- oof!"_

Matthew had nailed the blue speedster with a mighty smack from the Sol Blade, and surrounded by a Psynergetic glow, he used Pound to flatten the hedgehog, who ran out of the shadow that the Psynergetic construct cast on him. With a scowl fixed on his face, Matthew pulled out the Masamune and unleashed Rising Dragon, and two dragon-shaped streams of water came out of the blade before chasing after Sonic. Matthew then cast Froth Spiral, trapping Sonic in a construct of water, allowing the dragons unleashed by the Masamune to wail on the hedgehog.

Mario stood back up, before running over to Geno's body. After a bit, the puppet stirred, and for a scary moment, his eyes did not appear to change. However, he dusted himself off before saying, "Good to be back, Mario." When Mario didn't respond, he asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Geno... I'm-a sorry for not trying hard enough in those twelve years." The guilt had finally gotten to Mario, and he passed his phone to Geno, telling him to dial his cousin's number.

Confused, Geno obliged, and dialed Dr. Mario's number.

* * *

Stefano, having thrown the last of the enemies into the path of Mega Man's Metal Blades, felt his phone vibrate, and pulled it out. Seeing the contact ID, he eagerly accepted the call, before answering, "Ah, _cugino_! Any good news?"

"Oh... hi, Doc."

"Geno?!"

"Mario told me to dial your number... and now he's motioning for you to pass the phone to Princess Toadstool."

With a small laugh, the good doctor responded, "Oh, we call her Peach nowadays, but alright." Walking back over to the others, he tossed his phone to the princess, saying, "It's Geno," before walking over to the kid who called himself "Joker."

Peach answered with a chipper, "Hello?"

"Good to hear your voice again, Princess Toadstool."

"Oh, Geno! How are you?"

"Princess… I hate to be a downer, but Mario's been acting weird for the last five minutes, do you know why?"

"Well… oh, right, Mario never told it to anyone but Luigi and I… see, he prefers to keep his problems to himself, and I never understood why that was when he literally has a cousin who's a doctor and a psychiatrist…"

"What is this problem, pray tell?"

"Mario wanted to go back and get you as soon as the relocation process was finished, but he kept getting sidetracked by all sorts of things because the kingdom had pigeonholed him into the role of the hero..."

"Really?"

"Well... he ended up going to the wrong Star Hill at one point, you know, the one with the Star Shrine?"

"Yeah, I've heard of that place."

"Well, Luigi told me that he spent two whole days searching the hill in an effort to look for you, and he barely slept. In fact, just last month, he built a small house for you to live in just in case he found you by some stroke of sheer luck."

"...Why didn't he just come to Star Hill?"

"The Mushroom Valley is currently in a state of decay that's allowed for many monsters to thrive, and... well, Mario and Luigi are the only people in the Mushroom Kingdom with something resembling competence as bodyguards, so we couldn't risk them getting injured, especially if there's someone like Culex still lurking around there. Mario protested this, you know. It only took Toadsworth threatening his cousin with exile to make him stop. Maybe you should just tell him that you forgive him, and that'll most likely patch things up."

Bowser had overheard most of the conversation, and he stormed over, taking the phone out of the princess' hands before snarling, "Listen, Pinocchitoad, you better apologize to Mario and get him back into the game! I refuse to defeat a shell of a man!"

Peach said, "That's enough of that," before grabbing the phone back and finishing with, "Good luck, Geno!"

Hanging up, Peach cast Group Hug, healing most of the group, allowing them to rest as they planned their next move...

* * *

Geno tossed the phone back to Mario and said, "I don't get why you're beating yourself up about this, Mario."

Mario looked at him and asked, "What do you-a mean?"

"I mean, you tried to come back, that's all I wanted to know. The only way I WOULD'VE been mad is if you completely forgot about me, so you're forgiven."

Mario's disposition brightened at that, and he told the puppet, "When this is-a all done, you're staying with us at-a the Mushroom Kingdom. No more of the-a whole communications barrier."

"That does sound nice. Speaking of communications, have you spoken to Mallow recently?"

"Not that-a I remember, no..."

Matthew interrupted the two with, "So, I found this waterlogged hedgehog. That important?"

After laying Sonic on the ground, Mario, Matthew, and Geno waited for the teenage speedster to reawaken. When he did, his eyes changed back to their normal green before he yelled out in a panic, "I can't swi-" Looking around he calmly responded, "Oh, it's you guys."

As Mario helped him up, Sonic asked, "So, we got another mess to clean up?"

Mario nodded, before motioning to a nearby Launch Star and saying, "That's-a our escape. Let's-a fly!"

* * *

Fox absently looked at the little clock on the dashboard of the ship. Falco was asleep at the controls, Donkey Kong had also began snoozing, and Popo and Nana were still sound asleep, holding onto each other for support. Before Fox himself could fall asleep, he felt something thump in the cargo hold where everyone else was, and he looked back to see Mario, Matthew, Sonic, and that small caped puppet having arrived on the Great Fox. Mario then gave a thumbs-up before flying off into space again.

Just as Fox was about to fall asleep, Mario flew in front of the cockpit window, saying, "Hey, you see that-a big comet over there?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It's the-a Comet Observatory! We're gonna find Rosalina there!"

Taking off towards the comet, whooping in a joyous fashion, Fox closed the hatch on the back of the ship before punching the thruster activation button, and the engines roared to life before the Great Fox took off in pursuit of Mario.

* * *

"Wait... do these clouds taste like cotton candy?"

Yoshi, having heard Snake's observation, eagerly ran up to the front asking, _"Cotton candy?! WHERE?!"_

Looking down, he let out a disappointed sigh and said, _"Oh, it's probably an artificial version of Magicant or something."  
_

In confusion, the mercenary parroted, "Magicant?"

Pac-Man chimed in with, "It's what's inside Ness' mind!" Shaking his head, he continued, "That kid's seen some stuff, I tell you what..."

Link interjected with, "Well, considering that his next-door neighbor turned into a genocidal maniac who created an empire in the future, as well as the fact that he's also seen and beaten the embodiment of pure evil, I'm inclined to agree."

As murmurs of agreement rang through the crowd on deck, a yell of _"PK FLASH!"_ caught them off guard, and everyone scrambled to avoid getting hit with a lethal dose of psychokinetic light. As soon as everyone uncovered their eyes, they found Ness, his eyes blank, staring right back at them.

* * *

 **I hope you guys enjoyed the more character-driven chapter that this turned out to be. Remember, feedback is always welcome, so don't be afraid to leave a review!**

 **To my guest reviewer, this AU is fleshed out. Like, really fleshed out. For absentee Assists, I brought back Saki, Magnus, and Elec Man, because their absence was baffling (though if I'm being honest here, I would've included Saki as a fifth bonus Smasher for this AU had I thought of it at the time).**

 **Isaac, Matthew, Geno, and Banjo were included because I had played their respective games throughout Smash Ultimate's hype cycle, so I decided to give them a shot in this story.**


	22. The End of the Beginning

**Remember, feedback is always welcome!**

 _ **"I'm Mad Jack, and I'll be your friend 'till the very end... AAA-**_ _ **HAAAHAAAHAAAHAAA!"**_

* * *

"One question, Isaac... just how sturdy is this ship?"

"Almost indestructible."

"Good."

Snake pulled out a grenade and held it in his hand, his right finger itching to pull the pin, before saying, "Okay, kid. You've got one chance. Surrender now and release the body... or we blow you to kingdom come. Got it?"

Ness' eyes turned to the two cephalopods, and he yelled, _"PK FIRE!"_ Meggy and Evan scrambled to dodge the bolt of PSI, and Snake threw the grenade after pulling the pin. Much to his confusion, however, Ness threw up his PSI Magnet and simply stood there. When the grenade went off, the psychokinetic energy field absorbed the energy of the explosion.

Snake groaned, "Oh, great..." before pulling out his tranquilizer and firing a dart. Ness dodged the projectile via a PSI-boosted jump and stomped on Captain Falcon with a downwards foot kick, which was also augmented by his PSI. Opening what looked like a medicine container, Ness popped one small blood-red pill into his mouth. A red aura flared to life around the teenager, and he pulled out a baseball bat with black-and-blue markings, before swinging it at a Thunderbolt Pikachu fired at him. The Gutsy Bat reflected the bolt of electricity almost like it was a Franklin Badge, and Wario caught the full brunt of the lightning.

Despite being charred, the treasure hunter managed to cough out, "Maybe Wario should've kept you as a Trophy back then..."

That earned him a slap in the back of the head courtesy of Snake, who then attempted to engage Ness in close combat. Isaac, his fingertips glowing a brilliant green, planted his hand on the ship's deck, and Wild Growth began racing towards Ness in an attempt to subdue him.

* * *

As Mario flew towards the bright blue streak of light that he said was the Comet Observatory, inside the Great Fox, the titular pilot and his wingman were discussing with the other Smashers on whether Mario's judgement could be trusted on this. Donkey Kong vouched for his former rival, signing, "If you're thinking about the personal hatred, then that was my grandfather who's crankier than a wet cat. Mario, though we've had our fair share of arguments, is someone I can trust."

Geno and Sonic both nodded in agreement, while Popo said, "It's Mario! Why _wouldn't_ we trust him?"

"Kid's got a point, Falco."

Mario then flew back to the cockpit of the ship, startling the two pilots with a cheerful, "We're-a here!"

Apparently, during their discussion, they had flown _into_ the comet, and what they saw inside blew everyone away.

Everyone else aside from Mario had only caught a glimpse of the Comet Observatory at the Craggy Outlook, and upon closer inspection, they understood why he spoke so highly of it.

The Observatory was large, had an ethereal feel to it, and the dome which covered the core that powered the ship had an underside that appeared to be glistening with stars. Fox managed a simple, "Wow. Holy..."

"It's-a beautiful, isn't it?"

Donkey Kong nodded, while Matthew stared at the various small domes before running over to the kitchen. Nana called to the Adept, "Hey, don't you think that eating a _whole dragon_ is enough?"

Matthew shrugged before replying, "Just need some food for the trip."

Mario then looked at where the Starshroom was supposed to be, and much to his surprise, the Odyssey was sitting in its place. On his head, Cappy asked, "Hey, Mario, wasn't the Odyssey... y'know, destroyed?"

"You're-a right, Cappy, but it-a wouldn't hurt to go and-a check, right?"

"Well, I guess you're right..."

Just as Mario placed his hand on the Odyssey's globe, a blue shockwave rippled throughout the Comet Observatory, and a woman's voice said, _"Ah, so we have intruders on board?"_

It was at that moment that Matthew walked out of the kitchen with a dessert roll in his hands, asking, "Hey, what'd I..."

Sonic sprinted up to the Adept, saying, "Now's not the time for food, dude."

Geno cautiously brandished the cannon that was built into his arm, not trusting the sheer tranquility of the place. A blue glow came across a spot near the ship's core, and Mario yelled to everyone, including Simon, who had just stepped off the ship, "You may want to-a close your eyes, it gets-a pretty bright over here!"

Everyone did as Mario instructed, and in a flash of teal light, Rosalina, the mother of the cosmos, materialized, with a green Luma next to her. Everyone uncovered their eyes as the light died down, and Rosalina asked, _"No friendly welcome?"_

Fox and Falco whipped out their Blasters, saying, "Not a chance, space lady."

Turning to Matthew, she remarked, _"I pity you, child... the Grave Eclipse surely must've been a mentally taxing ordeal for you."_ As Matthew stood there, at a loss for words, Rosalina turned to Geno, saying, _"Ah... so_ you _were Mario's first interstellar ally! If I may ask a question, where did you go off to for the next decade or so?"_

If looks could kill, Rosalina certainly would've died on the spot, as Geno glared at her with such anger that she immediately abandoned the puppet and turned to Mario, asking, _"And what brings you here, Mario_ _?_ _"_

Mario said, "Well, we've-a got to beat this Radiant One that-a everyone speaks of, so... would you please let us-a through?"

Before Rosalina could answer, Donkey Kong, having snuck behind her during the conversation, knocked out the cosmic overseer by bringing his fist down on her head, dusting his hands off in a satisfied manner. After about twenty minutes, Rosalina awakened, and thought to herself, _"Well, looks like my blessings weren't misplaced. Thank goodness that they don't know..."_ Rising to her full height, she said, "Welcome to the Comet Observatory!" Turning to the puppet in the blue hat, who was staring apprehensively at her (she remembered Mario had talked about a person named "Geno" at some point in his first excursion to space), she said, "Ah, you must be Geno! Mario told me all about you during his journeys to space. Please, tell me about your adventures!"

Mario whispered to Geno, "She's actually really cool... you'll make-a friends with her fast, I know it!"

As Geno was recounting the events of the Smithy Gang's attack from his perspective, Sonic walked up to his old rival and asked, "How do you manage to do that?"

"Do what?"

"Resolve conflicts so easily!"

"Well, when-a you're the Mushroom Kingdom's ambassador, you have to-a learn how to settle conflicts without it coming to blows."

They were interrupted by Simon chasing after a Luma who had taken his Vampire Killer, and the two of them burst out laughing.

Fox looked out into the distance, and saw that they were actually really close to that ball of light that had caused the whole mess in the first place. Nudging Falco on the shoulder, he said, "We've got our final destination ahead of us. Tell the others."

* * *

Snake loaded yet another clip into his tranquilizer, and fired another dart at Ness, who dodged it with a roll. Wario, having recovered from his previous electrocution, pulled out his tennis device that he had dubbed the "Ultra Hand," and grabbed Ness with it from afar before shaking the kid wildly. After he put him down, Isaac, having used the Tomegatherion to change his class to the Necromage, yelled, "DEATH CARD!"

Snake thought to himself, _"Didn't Hal say it was Death Note?"_

Whatever the attack was called, it seemed to do a number on the kid, as he clutched his head in agony before screaming, _"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"_ Snake, upon seeing this, was reminded of the times whenever Sunny got upset, and he motioned for Isaac to stop the magic before any lasting damage could be done. The Adept did so, and Ness collapsed on the floor. Everyone else on the ship, who had gotten a full blast of PK Rockin' Ω, had finally recovered, not sure what do do with the unconscious kid.

Yoshi said, _"I'll be getting the one thing that'll wake_ anyone _up... a good old durian will do the trick!"_

As he ran down to the storage hold, Villager pulled out two clothespins and handed the other to Diddy Kong, who plugged his nostrils without a second thought. As everyone else but Link, who was salivating just at the thought of the fruit, stared at the two in confusion, the monkey held up a sign that read, "Durians are really, really smelly. You learn a lot when a dinosaur that'll eat _anything_ but spicy peppers teaches culinary classes." Next to him, Villager nodded in agreement.

On cue, Yoshi appeared from out of the lower deck, holding a metal box. Dropping onto the deck, he flipped off the top of the lid to reveal his prize: a large, spiky fruit. After a momentary debate on whether or not Luigi would try to make the durian into a football, Yoshi burped out a wheel saw, and began cutting away at the hard shell of the fruit. Villager and Diddy Kong exchanged pained looks as Yoshi finally broke through the casing, and the durian split neatly in half before emitting its infamous odor.

The results were immediate: Ness sat right back up, his eyes watering, while Isaac, Captain Falcon, and Pikachu ran for the vomit bucket. Link and Wario seemed to be unaffected by the smell, and the two of them ripped out a few pieces of fruit and started eating them. Snake, out of sheer curiosity, took a piece and ate it. That turned out to be a mistake, as he immediately spit it out and began searching for a glass of water. Pac-Man took a nibble, and upon tasting it, he let out a noise comparable to a dying seal before flopping over. Meggy and Evan took a whiff before running to join the other three in vomiting, and the Mii Swordfighter immediately clasped his hands over his nose to blot out the smell. Cloud just passively stood by, though the stench was making his eyes water as well.

Next to everyone else, Villager and Diddy Kong stood there, clothespins on their noses, relieved that they didn't have to go through that round of torture again.

Once he decided that the job was done, Yoshi closed up the metal box and brought it back down to the cargo hold. Up above, Ness exclaimed, "What in the name of... what was that awful smell?"

Snake, having downed his fourth glass of water, choked out, "Some weird fruit called a durian."

"Durian... where have I... oh, right, Poo told me about this! I wonder why the ones he gave us never stunk..."

Next to him, Link swallowed yet another piece of durian and said, "Hey, this is REALLY good! Wanna try some?"

Everyone else frantically shook their heads, while Pikachu climbed up the crow's nest, defying the laws of gravity. Up there, he found Wario munching on a whole durian, muttering, "This is actually not bad!" That prompted Pikachu to jump off the crow's nest and onto the ship below before changing into a florist's outfit. With a flourish, he used a mixture of Sweet Scent and Aromatherapy, and the resulting sweet smell wafted through the area in an attempt to dispel the stink of the durian.

* * *

Luigi peered from out behind a rock, and saw Princess Zelda. Earlier, Mario had called Stefano to inform them that they had found Rosalina, and judging by how big their group was, he assumed that the remaining amount of people to find wasn't that big. Samus had her arm cannon at the ready, while Banjo, with Kazooie glaring at the murderous dragon above her, held out a pair of binoculars to watch her every move. Before any progress could be made, Zelda ended up seeing Banjo's binoculars, and the bear's eyes bugged out of the binoculars upon seeing her stare at him.

Shaking the broken glass out of the binoculars, Kazooie whispered, "That's the fifth thing you've broken with your eyes this _month_ , Banjo!" Her train of thought derailing, she then mused, "I wonder how long the warranty on these suckers is..."

That was interrupted by the rock they were hiding behind shattering in a fiery explosion. Zelda, true to her status as the reincarnation of Hylia, glowed with a golden light, but this light was not benevolent. Leaping up, she stomped on Kazooie with an electrified foot, causing the bird to cough out, "Rotten... princesses..." Samus was primed and ready to fire, but Ridley tapped her on the shoulder, and gestured for her to call her ship in to run over the princess. Samus refused, even pointing her cannon at Ridley, and she only refocused on her task because of what she assumed to be an irritated glare from Mr. Game & Watch.

Ridley made an obscene gesture behind Samus' back, and took off in pursuit of the princess. Zelda, seeing the former Space Pirate commander behind her, used Farore's Wind to catch the dragon off guard, which it succeeded in doing, as she collided right into Ridley, surrounded by stinging winds. Forced to retreat from the princess, Ridley used his Plasma Breath in an attempt to catch her off guard, but Zelda instead jumped up and kicked him right in the jaw, causing the attack to backfire.

As Samus snickered at the sight, Game & Watch angrily beeped at her to remind her that they were on a temporary alliance. Red then sent out his Charizard, and the fire dragon roared before making a dynamic entry with Flare Blitz, crashing right into Zelda. Ignoring the recoil, he followed up with a relentless flurry of Slashes, before using Sunny Day to bolster his firepower. Ridley also discovered that his fire/plasma related attacks had received this power-up, and the two of them began hammering away at Zelda, finishing with Charizard using Fire Punch to launch her right into Ridley's grasp. Ridley then put one of his claws on her throat, growling out, "One wrong move, and you can say goodbye to your jugular."

With a spin, Ridley then flung the Hylian princess to where the others were, right into Bowser's waiting fist. After a triumphant roar, Bowser then stumbled away, having tripped over a pebble, causing Greninja to let out a muffled snicker.

Zelda awakened, and the first person she saw was Peach. Peach scooped her up into a hug, exclaiming, "Oh, Zelda, I'm so glad you're okay!"

Flushing in embarrassment at the attention she was receiving, Zelda said, "Okay, Peach, you can put me down." Peach did so, and once Ridley and Charizard had flown over, the former acknowledging the latter with a grudging respect, Zelda asked, "What in the name of Hylia happened earlier?"

Felling someone tug on her dress, she looked down to see Kirby pointing at something in the distance. Squinting, Zelda saw that it was that large ball of light that had vaporized her, Fox, Shulk, and Mewtwo at the Craggy Outlook. With sparks flying in her fingers, she said, "Let's go."

* * *

Mario decided to ring up everyone that had a phone for one last talk. Simultaneously, Stefano, Cloud, and Mac all appeared on the screen, all three uttering a simultaneous, "Hello."

Dr. Mario broke the ice first, saying, "Hey, _cugino_! Any good news? 'Cause we got some for you!"

Cloud was next, and he said, "We found someone too."

Zelda and Ness popped up on their respective screens with an enthusiastic, "Hello!"

Pit popped up in front of Mario, exclaiming, "Hi, Zelda!"

As Zelda waved, Mario then asked, "Have you guys seen that-a big ball of light?"

Snake responded with a gruff, "Yep, that's our final destination, right?"

After a small round of laughter, Mario composed himself and nodded, before asking, "Ready?"

Everyone nodded, and began making final preparations. Snake told Isaac to steer their ship towards the ball of light, and Luigi, though fear was clearly present in his eyes, strapped on the Poltergust G-00 and walked towards the core of light. Red took off on Charizard, whispering words of encouragement to his starter, Mario hopped onto the Odyssey with Geno, Donkey Kong, and Matthew in tow before taking off, Pit, Simon, Popo, and Nana stayed on the Comet Observatory with Rosalina, which began moving, and Falco hopped into his repaired Arwing, while Fox called for his own, programming the Great Fox to provide cover fire from behind.

* * *

Dharkon crushed a Crazy Hand clone out of sheer frustration before continuing to hammer away at the seal on his realm. So far, he had managed to chip a small hole, but was not making any further progress, which made him angry.

A formation of Shroob saucers flew up and blasted at the barrier, not making any progress, and Dharkon roared, _"TRY HARDER!"_

* * *

Galeem watched the freed Smashers make the final trek towards him, and, surprisingly composed, commanded, _"Master Hand, you will go and intercept the group running through the Holy Islands. Necrozma, intercept the ship. And Tabuu, you will eradicate those spaceships once and for all. Is that understood?"_

Before the three of them could say anything, two Arwings flew right through Galeem's weakened shield, their pilots yelling in unison, "Not a chance!"

As Fox and Falco dismounted onto a massive replica of Final Destination that Galeem had created, the other Smashers began to file in, landing on the same platform. As soon as Yoshi jumped off the ship, Mario stepped up to the front, Luigi, Bowser, Wario, Peach, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi alongside him, and said, "I don't know who you are or what your name is, but we are the seven Star Children of the Mushroom World, and we're gonna take you down."

"Wow, you can say all that without the tic?"

"Shut it, Wario."

Dr. Mario stepped up, and told Mario, "Hey, remember that promise I made all those years ago? You know, 'I'm with you guys 'till the end of the line?' Well, it's time for me to make good on that." Turning to the winged ball of light in front of them, he growled, "You're going down."

Hopping onto Bowser's head, Geno chuckled, "I missed this."

One by one, the Smashers made their way up to the front, and Galeem roared, _"ENOUGH! You are all beneath me! Tabuu, stop them this instant!"_

Tabuu materialized in a flash, wings unfurling. Just as he was about to unleash his Off Waves, Sonic, in a repeat of the climactic battle in Subspace, jumped up and used his Spin Dash to shatter the being's wings. Howling in frustration, Tabuu pointed at Sonic, Joker, Matthew, Isaac, Snake, and Captain Falcon, warping the six of them into his pocket of Subspace. Master Hand snatched Red, the Ice Climbers, and Falco in his grasp before teleporting to another replica of Final Destination. And finally, Ultra Necrozma grabbed Samus, Ridley, Banjo, and the Piranha Plant before teleporting away.

The remaining Smashers, being led by the seven Star Children, turned to face their final challenge.

"Let's-a go."

* * *

 **And so it begins...**

 **To the guest reviewer who keeps asking for Game Tengoku/The Game Paradise! content: No. Stop asking. There's a reason why your reviews aren't on there.**

 **To the other guest reviewer: Yes, Mallow is a Spirit, and as for absent Echoes, I'm personally not a fan of Shadow, Dixie I forgot about (which is unfortunate), Alph and Olimar are separate, but not Echoes, and I had Medusa in the books as a boss fight.**

 **Once again, feedback is the best thing a writer can receive, so don't be afraid to leave a review!**


	23. Battle Against the Light

**If you've been following this AU, you know why Red's been matched against Master Hand.**

* * *

Yoshi sprouted wings and took off towards Galeem, Mario riding on his back to provide cover with his Cape. Flying above the plumber and his trusty steed, Galeem shed several feathers off of his wings in an attempt to impale them from up above. Weaving through the sea of feathers, Yoshi then spat a ball of fire at the ball of light. The feathers cascaded down onto the ethereal battlefield that Galeem had conjured, shattering into shards of light once they hit the ground. Those shards of light formed into balls of light that resembled X-Bombs, and they glowed momentarily before exploding in a perpendicular fashion, barreling towards the Smashers on the ground. Fox called for his Arwing, and joined Yoshi and Mario in the aerial dogfight, while Ness activated his PSI Magnet, drawing the beams of light from the explosions towards him, and Mr. Game & Watch did the same with his Oil Panic bucket, which also reflected a stray feather upwards.

His wings forming a circle around him, Galeem then pulsated a few times before summoning bright blue clones of every Smasher that was still under his control. The clone of King K. Rool landed on the ground before jumping Diddy Kong and the Mii Swordfighter, Meta Knight and Dark Pit's clones were attempting to down the combatants who had taken the fight to the air, Wario was in a brawler lock with with Incineroar, and Bowser was currently beating the snot out of Dark Samus, who strangely was not capable of putting up much of a fight.

Turning his attention to Yoshi, Galeem then surrounded Yoshi in a grid of thin purple lasers, and the dinosaur stopped moving, sure that they would go off at anytime. His hunch was correct, as the purple lasers turned into bright blue lasers, but none of them hit Yoshi, who had found a location that was not touched by the lasers. Eating one of his Frost Melons, he turned towards a large ball of light that was headed straight for him, and breathed a stream of cold air that slowed it down. On the ground, Rosalina used her wand to conjure a Launch Star for the duo up above to use, and they did, allowing them to catch up with Galeem.

* * *

As Red, Popo, Nana, and Falco landed on the replica of Final Destination, they were greeted by a deep, booming laugh, followed by Master Hand appearing in front of them in a purple flicker. Red sent out his entire team, and ordered, "Hit him with the strongest attacks you have! Failure is _not_ an option this time!"

As Charizard took off, with Squirtle and Ivysaur hitching rides, Falco also called for his Arwing before firing a burst of lasers upon entering the ship. Master Hand began the fight by flying off into the distance before making a fist and attempting to ram into the Smashers on the ground. Popo and Nana jumped up, before taking a crack at Master Hand's thumb, but the hand shook them off with little effort. As Charizard did another fly-by, Red tossed up an X Attack and X Accuracy, and Charizard shared the two items with his teammates, before Squirtle fired a Dragon Pulse, with Ivysaur holding him to lessen the recoil. Charizard gave a signal to Ivysaur, and she nodded, causing Charizard to throw her onto Master Hand. Using Power Whip, she lashed the hand's ring finger before coiling it and pulling backwards. As Master Hand struggled against Ivysaur's grip, a sickening crunch was heard, and Master Hand let out a howl of pain.

Ivysaur had wrenched the finger back so hard that it had actually broken. Master Hand shook Ivysaur off and onto the ground in front of him, and in a rage, he began to relentlessly use his bullet attack, firing round after round of Golden Banzai Bills right at Ivysaur.

Master Hand's onslaught was interrupted by a combination of Charizard's Fire Blast and Falco managing to shoot some lasers right up Master Hand's glove, where they managed to strike the Master Core. The Swarm that resided in Master Hand began bubbling mutinously, causing some swelling in the broken finger, which exacerbated the pain.

Charizard growled at Squirtle, _"Ready to use it?"_

Squirtle saluted and replied, _"You betcha!"_

Charizard smirked, before commanding, _"ZAP CANNON!"_

Squirtle released the orb of electricity he had been saving for a while, and it hit true, yellow-green bolts of electricity arcing all over the hand before Charizard threw Squirtle at Ivysaur, motioning for Squirtle to get her to safety. Squirtle did so, pushing a brutally beaten Ivysaur towards Red and saying, _"I don't think she can fight anymore..."_

Red sprayed Ivysaur's numerous burn wounds with Full Restore before returning her, and he commanded, "Hydro Cannon, Squirtle!"

Squirtle began charging up the Ultimate Move, but Master Hand had finally shaken off the paralysis from the Zap Cannon, as well as the Master Core inside him healing the broken finger. Flickering into the distance, he snapped his fingers, conjuring seven fireballs which spun in a circle around him, before tossing them at Popo and Nana. The battle couple jumped above one, batted back another two, and Squirtle was forced to use up his Hydro Cannon to extinguish the remaining four. Giving them no time to breathe, Master Hand then conjured mirrors all over Final Destination before firing a laser which bounced off the mirrors and created a web of lasers that resembled a security system.

Charizard, as it flew by again, signaled to Red by pointing to his wrist, indicating that Mega Evolution was needed. Red nodded, and yelled to the heavens, "LET'S GO, CHARIZARD!"

* * *

Sonic got up with the other five that had ended up getting teleported with him, and groaned, "This again?"

Captain Falcon proclaimed, "Hmph. We've beat him once, we'll do it again!"

Snake grumbled, "Never thought I'd be back here..."

Isaac, Matthew, and Joker stared at the dark, empty realm they had ended up in with looks of confusion, and with a flash, a blue, almost holographic adult man appeared in front of the six of them.

 _"So... it's_ YOU _again. Boggling, isn't it? The sheer creativity that lies before you..."_

Joker, looking around, mumbled, "This looks like some cheap knockoff of the Metaverse..."

Tabuu said nothing after that, and instead turned into some sort of arrowhead before flying towards the Smashers at high speed. Joker pulled out his firearm, and flipped over the projectile before shooting Tabuu, causing some damage. Snake pulled out his RPG and took aim at the spot he expected Tabuu to arrive in. However, Tabuu materialized behind him, and was right about to snare Snake in the Chains of Light until Matthew and Isaac both took a stab at him to distract him. Tabuu whirled around, staring at the father-son duo with a mix of confusion and amusement before using his bullet rain attack. Matthew used Chasm to absorb most of of the heavy fire, while Isaac used Granite to create a Psynergetic barrier around the six of them which blocked some of the impact from the bullets that did hit. Scowling, Tabuu grew to a gigantic size, and began shooting lasers from his eyes and fingers. Captain Falcon and Sonic began running along the ground, dodging the lasers, Joker had began climbing on Tabuu, while Snake stared, slack-jawed, and Isaac and Matthew used the strongest Psynergy spells they had on hand.

Stomping on the ground, Isaac cast Grand Gaia, and a ripple of energy raced across the platform before exploding under Tabuu's chin, showering him in boulders. Matthew's eyes flashed a deep purple, and with much effort, he cast Thorny Grave before collapsing to one knee from the sheer effort of casting the spell. Ghosts began to fly around the closed pocket of Subspace, attacking everything in sight.

Joker shot down a few ghosts that had homed in on him, before burying Paradise Lost into Tabuu's neck. Howling in pain, the omniscient Wireframe flung Joker off his shoulders and onto the ground before shrinking to his normal size and disappearing into the foreground.

Ignoring the ghosts that were currently attacking him, Tabuu spread his wings, and unleashed the Off Waves. Isaac used Flash, and this time, a red Psynergetic barrier formed around them. The barrier that Flash had set up was significantly stronger than Granite, and it absorbed the first red ring without a crack, the second ring caused the barrier to crack even more, and the third ring shattered the barrier, but did no lasting damage to the Smashers. In a panic, Matthew also used Brick in an attempt to guard everyone else.

Frustrated, Tabuu shot a Chain of Light at Sonic, snaring the hedgehog. He then pointed at the six of them, and gleaming stars appeared on them. As the three newcomers stared in confusion, Snake and Falcon instinctively threw up their shields, while Sonic was still squirming in the chain. Six fiery starbursts appeared, and Isaac, Matthew, Joker, and Sonic were blown away a good distance, while Snake and Captain Falcon's shields were heavily damaged. Tabuu then materialized behind Sonic, and began his rapid slash attack, punctuating each blow with, _"AND! THIS! IS! FOR! SHATTERING! MY! WINGS!"_

Slamming Sonic into the ground, the chains broke, and the Blue Blur lay still. Matthew then ran over to Sonic and began using Garland and Flower to bring the hedgehog back from the brink, bringing the total amount of Venus Djinn on standby to five. Matthew then yelled to his dad, "Use Judgement!" Isaac nodded back, and prepared to summon the knight of the apocalypse.

Captain Falcon hit Tabuu with a wicked knee strike, and Snake unleashed a flurry of kicks, staggering the Wireframe. As he tried to regain his bearings, Isaac yelled, " _JUDGEMENT!_ "

A low hum gradually began increasing in volume as Judgement, the knight of the apocalypse, hovered above, waiting to release the massive build-up of energy in its cannon. Isaac gave it the okay to fire, and the summon released its might, which took the form of a bright blue explosion that was gradually growing in size...

* * *

Ridley and Samus were the first of their group to awaken, and the two took in their surroundings, with Ridley taking to the air to survey the area. The place looked like a sort of futuristic altar, with an effigy of the large, four-winged dragon that had transported them to the realm in the center.

"Can't believe I'm stuck working with you..."

"Say that one more time, Aran, and I'll-"

The two were interrupted by a large beam of light appearing behind them, and a voice boomed, _"Ah, so you are my opposition?"_

Banjo and the Piranha Plant had gotten up at that time, and Kazooie popped out of the backpack, replying, "Yeah, what's it to you, Shades?"

 _"I expected people that were more... intimidating than this. Look at you, a potted plant and two deadbeat musicians... how do you call yourselves heroes?"_ Turning to Samus and Ridley, the voice taunted, _"And I should expect the two of you to work together? From what my master has shown me... you're both more likely to kill each other before even trying to find the right target."_

It was at that point that Ultra Necrozma finally emerged from the beam of light, in his full glory. The dragon growled, _"Oh, and as an added bonus..."_

Shaking his wings, several orbs of light dispersed from the Blinding One, and once they fell onto the ground, they took the form of various Pokémon, all appearing to be made out of a golden light. With an almighty roar, Ultra Necrozma took to the skies of the Ultra Megalopolis, and used Power Gem, sending thousands of large, crystalline rocks hurtling towards the four of them.

With a screech, Ridley began flying at ground level, into the horde of gleaming Pokémon. Crushing a Rowlet with his hand, it dispersed into wisps of light that drifted upwards, and he shifted his attention to another cluster of Pokémon. Samus, with her arm cannon still remaining as the only functional part of her suit, used her Super Missiles and Spazer Beam to destroy the rocks coming from above, while Banjo and Kazooie took to the skies with the Piranha Plant in tow, the potted plant acting as their makeshift gun in place of Kazooie.

* * *

Yoshi had catapulted Mario off of his back to give Mario a boost in reaching the ball of light, and Mario performed a fiery overhead punch, hearing something crack upon impact. With almost no reaction, Galeem blew Mario off of him with a flap of his wings, and Yoshi swooped down in an attempt to catch him. Pulsating, Galeem created numerous waves of stinging light that the Smashers were forced to either dodge or jump over.

Dr. Mario hurled a clone of Isabelle at Bowser, who, using an overhead slash, sent Isabelle sprawling across the Battlefield. As the clone got up, she began flickering, and all around, the other clones began to do the same. Before anyone could do anything, the copies exploded, smothering the ground in a sea of explosions that would've put Snake's entire kit to shame. Cloud had used Big Guard at the last possible second, mitigating some of the impact, but otherwise, those who were on the ground had sustained a lot of damage. Yoshi landed on the ground, surveying for damage, and Mario ended up falling right on top of Yoshi with a rather soft impact, given that he had used a Super Leaf to slow his fall.

Up above, Galeem said, _"The lot of you are incredibly meddlesome... time for you to DISAPPEAR!"_

On the ground, numerous wormholes began appearing at the feet of the others, causing Mr. Game & Watch, Diddy Kong, and King Dedede to disappear.

* * *

Mega Charizard X lunged towards Master Hand, cloaked in a shroud of dragonfire, and raked the hand's palm with two uses of Dragon Claw. As Master Hand was staggered by the back-to-back blows, he activated his laser fingers, which bounced all over the mirrors, making movement next to impossible for Red and the Ice Climbers. Abandoning his attack plan, Charizard instead began shattering the mirrors, causing the lasers to vanish all around them, before growling at Red to send out Ivysaur, and he gestured for Squirtle to hop onto his back. The Tiny Turtle Pokémon gestured for Ivysaur to latch on, and despite the damage she had sustained earlier, Ivysaur obliged, jumping onto Charizard's back.

As Master Hand moved onto Final Destination for an attack, he was interrupted by the sound of someone's yelling gradually getting louder, and before he could react, King Dedede crashed right on top of him, somehow managing to displace the Master Core from the hand. Inside, the Swarm started going berserk without the Master Core's inhibiting properties, and in a panic, Master Hand clawed at the core in a desperate attempt to put it back in, but the Swarm had taken control by that point, and Red stared in horror as holes began bursting in Master Hand.

With his last bit of sanity, Master Hand snapped his fingers, creating a vortex back to the others, and roaring, _"GO!"_

Returning his team, Red, along with Popo, Nana, and King Dedede, jumped through the portal, while Falco flew his Arwing through it. Before it closed completely, Red heard Master Hand scream in agony, and he almost felt bad for him at that point. Shaking those thoughts out of his head, Red turned his attention to the battle going on around him, and upon seeing Falco join Fox up in the sky, he sent out his whole team, telling them to join the two pilots and Yoshi in bringing down the winged core of light.

Staring at the pilots and three Pokémon in the sky, Galeem said, _"You're back earlier than I expected. What happened to Master Hand?"_

Falco replied, "Well... let's just say that the Swarm is loose and call it a day, how 'bout that?"

 _"THE SWARM?!"_

Galeem vanished in an instant, dead set on getting his agent of light back under control.

* * *

When the last of the energy subsided, Tabuu, though heavily damaged and flickering, still had enough in him to summon a gigantic dragon head. Snake pulled out his Cypher and began rising up, Captain Falcon jumped up in the air, Sonic, finally back up to fighting strength, bounced off his Spring, while Isaac used Shade and Matthew used Chasm to shield those on the ground. Joker joined the other three in the air, hopping off of Snake's Cypher, and just as Tabuu fired the laser, he called for Satanael to fire the Sinful Shell, and the Persona obliged, firing a single blood-red bullet at the holographic Wireframe. Tabuu vanished at the last possible second, but the bullet struck the cannon, causing it to explode.

When Shade and Chasm had done their jobs, bringing their total amount of set Djinn to two Venus, one Mercury, and one Mars, and something went off in Matthew's brain. Trying to anticipate where Tabuu would teleport, he used Sizzle behind him, and Tabuu ended up materializing in a sea of embers. Taking the opportunity, Isaac then struck Tabuu using Echo, ignoring the stinging feeling on his face as the embers made contact with his skin. A devious glint appearing in his eye, Matthew, at the top of his lungs, yelled, _"HAURES!"_

As three yellow orbs and two red orbs rose into the air, the air thickened with a foul stench as Haures appeared. With a snarl, the demon fixed its eyes on its target, and bounded straight for Tabuu. Before he could do anything, Haures seized him in his grasp, and repeatedly clawing him across the face, and the mixture of darkness and poison had expended most of what was left of the Wireframe's strength.

As the demon vanished, with a mutinous glare at the six of them, he growled, _"You haven't seen the last of me..."_ Pointing at Matthew and Isaac, he continued, _"I'll be keeping a close eye on the two of you."_ With another flicker, he disappeared just as Snake fired an RPG rocket at him. Where Tabuu once was, a rift opened up, and with Snake leading them, the six of them walked through.

Once they stepped through, they were greeted with the other Smashers, save Samus, Ridley, Banjo, Mr. Game & Watch, Diddy Kong, and the Piranha Plant, staring around in confusion, and Snake pulled out his SOCOM, looking around frantically for any threats. Squinting, he noticed that something wasn't quite right with the sky, as it had several cracks in it, along with something that resembled an eyeball staring through the hole. Looking around, he asked, "Hey, did anyone see that-"

He was interrupted by Galeem appearing in a flash of light, howling, _"You cost me one of my best agents of light! Now... you will DIE!"_

Flickering between light blue and gold very quickly, Galeem summoned a bevy of Spirit Orbs and false Smashers, and while the six that were missing were fighting their own battle in the Ultra Megalopolis, everyone else was faced with a challenge that seemed insurmountable.

* * *

 **Phew, this took a while to write. Make sure to leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **To my guest reviewer, I'm not too fond of _Fire Emblem_ as a whole, and I put them off into later realms because I feel like I can't write them properly (plus, the _FE_ fandom can get scary at times). But, if you're excited about Dracula's Castle, just wait 'till you see the surprise I have there.**

 **To Demarlion, sorry, I won't be featuring any content from _The Legendary Starfy_.**


	24. Alien Invasion

**It's time!**

 _ **"Behold... Project EXCELSUS!"**_

* * *

Link acted first, using Urbosa's Fury to zap most of the False Smashers, and some of the Spirit Orbs began wildly flying around the field, one of them managing to suck in Geno and Isaac, another catching Donkey Kong and Wario, and a third one snatched King Dedede and Simon. Zelda had already engaged with the clone of Ridley, and they had already began using their most powerful attacks from the get-go. Snake activated his Octocamo and ran all over the field, burying landmines wherever he could, and the explosives detonated faster than he could plant them. Once he had cut a solid trench in the ground with the explosives, the mercenary pulled out Naked Snake's survival knife, having finally decided to give knife-fighting a try, and he ran into a group that consisted of Ganondorf, Isabelle, and Marth.

Yoshi entered his egg and began rolling across the field, bowling over everything that stood in his path, while behind him, the Ridley clone dragged Zelda across the ground, and right into a group of Smashers that consisted of Pikachu, Fox, and Ness, only for Pikachu to growl, his cheeks sparking. Tossing Zelda aside, the false Ridley faced the electric mouse and snarled, almost as if it was asking Pikachu if it had a death wish.

Mario smacked away a clone of Marth before hammering a glowing Lucina over the head, while next to him, Cloud used Beta, the resulting firestorm eradicating a massive group of Spirit Orbs. Mario asked, "Uh, aren't those-a important?"

Cloud nonchalantly shrugged, replying with, "I got what I needed, now let's split some skulls open!" Behind him, Matthew proceeded to do just that on a copy of Chrom, having used Skull Splitter to destroy the False Smasher. Pulling out his Masamune, Matthew weaved through King K. Rool's assorted assault of varied gadgets, Ganondorf's wild swings with his massive claymore sword, and he ducked a swing from a copy of Isaac, before engaging in a duel.

* * *

Isaac and Geno landed in the Pokémon Stadium, and found themselves surrounded by eight cyan copies of Mr. Game & Watch that radiated a strange purple aura. Before either of them could do anything, the Game & Watches dissolved into Shadow Bugs and began to form strange little men dressed in green. Turning to Isaac, Geno asked, "What _are_ those things?"

Isaac's response was, "Primids, last I heard. Want a shot at them?"

"Don't mind if I do."

Geno fired one of his arms at three Primids, sending them flying, while Isaac jammed the Gaia Blade into the ground and used Ragnarok, which sent one Primid flying into the air. Switching classes, he then used Nettle, causing a group of sharp thorns to erupt from the ground, impaling several more Primids on the plants. The battle went by relatively quick, with them having disposed of the last Primid with relative ease. Before either of them could celebrate, though, they looked at the Shadow Bugs all around them converge into a Mega Primid...

* * *

Ridley gave chase to the gigantic light dragon, pursuing it all across the Megalo Tower while firing volley after volley of fireballs, but most of them missed and careened towards the ground, taking out some of the Pokémon that Necrozma had made from its light. As Samus held back a laugh at the pitiful sight, Ridley roared, "Hey! _ARAN!_ Would it _kill_ you to try and shoot this flying rock out of the sky?!"

Taking advantage of its distracted target, Necrozma began charging a Photon Geyser right underneath Ridley and retreated once it began glowing bright. Looking underneath him, Ridley blanched, but before he could react, the geyser exploded in a fountain of gold, sending light particles everywhere... which then promptly disappeared into an almost invisible source, who now held a bucket with three glowing cells of oil. As Ridley looked at his savior, who was floating right next to him thanks to a parachute, Mr. Game & Watch said, "Go. I'll take care of Samus down below. And make sure you work _with_ Banjo, not against him, that clear?"

Ridley mockingly saluted before flying off, joining Diddy Kong, Banjo, Kazooie, and the Piranha Plant in targeting Ultra Necrozma, who had let loose with Dragon Pulse, nearly blowing out a barrel on Diddy's jetpack. Game & Watch landed right next to Samus and the bounty hunter nonchalantly asked, "So, did it get him?"

The two-dimensional man held out his glowing bucket, and she sighed in disappointment. Before she could fire another shot, she heard him mutter, "You're actually worse than Ridley, I swear..."

Using the Grapple Beam on her arm cannon, she dragged him into her grasp. Her pupils shrunk with pure rage as she hissed, "What. Did. You. Say?"

"You are _WORSE_ than Ridley! You're acting like a spoiled brat right now! You may not like it, but he's one of our best assets in this blasted quest that none of us even wanted to take part in!"

"Are you deaf? Or are you just dumb? _HE KILLED MY PARENTS!_ I've told you this for almost eight years now, and you as well as everyone else are willing to let a murderer slide?!"

"Would you rather let us all die?! Ridley's at least smart enough to put aside you killing him _twice_ because he knows what's at stake!"

"That dragon is nothing more than a mindless, snarling beast. Don't you _ever_ call that piece of shit smart! And to answer your first question, if Ridley is among those killed, then YES!"

That actually took Mr. Game & Watch aback, and Samus clasped her left hand over her mouth in shock after realizing what she had just said. The flat humanoid coldly stared at Samus before replying icily, "Then don't expect me to have your back." With that, he walked into the crowd of Pokémon, somehow managing to hit 9 after 9 after 9.

Samus, now with a half broken, half vacant look on her face, began shooting volley after volley of Super Missiles with no regards as to who they would hit.

Diddy veered out of the way of a wayward missile before attempting to use his psychic powers to hold Necrozma in place. That turned out to be pointless, as Necrozma's own psychokinetic resistance proved to be stronger, and Diddy was left clutching his head in pain, before ultimately resuming the chase next to Banjo. Necrozma then flew low, with everyone else chasing, and Mr. Game & Watch then formulated a plan. As the dragon passed over him, he bounced off Samus' head before bouncing off his trampoline and landing on Ridley. The former Space Pirate commander was initially confused, but Mr. Game & Watch just whispered his plan to the dragon and he nodded in confirmation. Falling behind and flying back up, Ridley patiently waited for Necrozma to get closer. Once he did, he gave Game & Watch the signal (an obscene gesture), and the two-dimensional man jumped off Ridley before burying a key in the dragon's back. As Necrozma screeched, Mr. Game & Watch then used Judge, and scored a 9 against all odds.

Necrozma crash landed into the ground, plowing through its army of light clones, and everyone else came in for a landing, with their weapons at the ready. Banjo held Kazooie like a firearm, Diddy had several orange-shaped grenades in his hands, the Piranha Plant had a massive fireball in its mouth, ready to fire, while Mr. Game & Watch still held his hammer. Moaning in pain as it shifted, Ultra Necrozma groaned out, _"That wasn't even a tenth of what I can do. This isn't the last we'll see of each other, I guarantee that..."_

With those ominous words, Necrozma vanished into a sea of gold sparkles. A wormhole appeared behind the six of them, and pulled them back into the company of the others, who were currently fighting against wave after wave of False Smashers, while Fox and Falco were engaged in an aerial dogfight with the ball of light that had caused the mess in the first place up above.

* * *

Donkey Kong and Wario were in the middle of fighting a gigantic blue Kirby who did nothing but jump around and occasionally punch, and Wario caught the puffball's fist before lifting him up and repeatedly slamming him into the ground, over and over. Even Donkey Kong, who normally had no problems with combat, signed, "Whoa, dude..."

Panting as the Kirby dissolved into a Spirit Orb that housed what looked like a blue slime with a boxing glove, Wario panted, "Hah... that's... what you get... for messing with the legendary... WARIO!"

As the treasure hunter flexed his guns, Donkey Kong signed, "Okay, we're going back to reality."

* * *

When they did return, Snake greeted the two Star Children with a curt nod before saying, "You've got company. Also, The other four that got sucked in beat you here ages ago."

Looking forward, Donkey Kong became blinded by rage upon seeing King K. Rool's glowing form once more, and he performed one gigantic leap from where he was standing, and landed right on K. Rool to join the ongoing melee. Wario held out a hand to Snake, saying, "Hey, I gotta be paid for this, you know!"

That earned him a pistol-whipping, and Wario then charged into the battlefield upon asking for and receiving some incendiary exponents. Looking towards the battlefield, Snake saw a blazing Wario bulldoze his way through a horde of False Smashers, managing to clear out a whole path for the others who weren't using the trench that Snake had created thanks to his explosives.

All around the Smashers on the ground, the clones began flashing red, and Snake contacted the two pilots up in the air using his Codec. Up in their Arwings, Fox and Falco simultaneously received a message from Snake that said, _"This is Snake. Bring it down!"_

The two pilots obliged, firing three successive bursts of lasers each which blasted through Galeem's wings like they were made of paper before they both fired a steady stream of lasers at the core of light, making him go down into the ground, where all around him, the clones were on the verge of exploding. Everyone else except Ridley and the two space pilots jumped into the trench as the clones began exploding like fireworks, also managing to catch their master on the ground in the sea of fire.

When the fire and explosions had died down, everyone poked their head out of the trench, surveying the damage that had been made. The field was destroyed, smoking, and full of craters, with Galeem being in the largest one. Mario pulled himself, Luigi, and Dr. Mario out of the trench and went to the crater to investigate. Looking down, Mario asked, "Who-a are you?"

 _"That does not matter."_

Peach joined them, saying, "It does to us."

 _"Fine. I am... Galeem."_

Snake reloaded his SOCOM (despite the fact that he had his 'Unlimited' bandanna on), and growled out, "So, why'd you do this, Edison?" Looking up, he asked, "And why is the sky cracking?"

 _"Don't call me that- wait, the SKY IS CRACKING?!"_ Floating out of the crater instantly, he saw, that, to his horror, the mercenary was indeed correct. He yelled, _"YOU FOOLS! You weakened my seal! Do you have any idea what you have brought upon yourselves?!"_

"Uh, no?"

 _"You have unleashed a great evil, one even more sick and twisted than I am. I could not eradicate him, so I had to seal him away. His name is-"_

The sky shattered behind them, and out of the hole came an army of Crazy Hands, which began clashing with Galeem's remaining Master Hands, and behind them, a blue, fleshy eyeball surrounded in tentacles emerged, booming, _"DHARKON!"_

 _"You!"_

 _"Ah, Galeem, good to see you once more! And I see you have guests as well! And what's this you're hiding in your pocket dimension?"_

 _"HEY!"_

 _"Well, it's all mine now! Oh, are your guests a bit boring for your taste? Would you like for me to... make them more abstract?"_

 _"They are not- you know what, forget this. They're your problem now."_

 _"WHAT?!"_

 _"Later!"_ With that, Galeem vanished.

Turning to the others, Dharkon remarked, _"Well, what's his is now mine, so if you idiots want your friends back, you're going to have to go through me and my army."_ Dharkon then vanished through the massive hole he had created, and the Smashers exchanged confused and concerned glances before Captain Falcon said, "Let's go."

Mr. Game & Watch walked his way to the front, holding up a stop sign, and said, "Listen to this first!"

A small tape recorder appeared in his hand, and audio from the battle in Megalo Tower began playing. Samus buried her head in her hands as her voice said, _"Are you deaf? Or are you just dumb? HE KILLED MY PARENTS! I've told you this for almost eight years now, and you as well as everyone else are willing to let a murderer slide?!"_

Mr. Game & Watch's voice retorted, _"Would you rather let us all die?! Ridley's at least smart enough to put aside you killing him_ twice _because he knows what's at stake!"_

Samus, with venom in her voice, said, _"That dragon is nothing more than a mindless, snarling beast. Don't you ever call that piece of shit smart! And to answer your first question, if Ridley is among those killed, then YES!"_

Everyone not named Ridley gasped in shock at that last part, and Mr. Game & Watch snapped, "That was _really_ smart, Samus. You know my tape recorder can't turn off, so why'd you say all of that?"

Samus, at a loss for words, finally managed to say, "I... I... I don't know."

* * *

Everyone had jumped onto their respective vehicles, with Kirby having resummoned his Warp Star for himself and Dedede, Mario making room on the Odyssey for himself, Luigi, Peach, and Stefano, Rosalina readying the Observatory for herself, Geno, and Yoshi, Isaac and Matthew boarding their ship, being joined by Snake, Zelda, Wario, Cloud, Link, Toon Link, Red, and Pikachu, Captain Falcon revved up his Falcon Flyer, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and Mr. Game & Watch having boarded, Samus entered her Gunship alone, and everyone else except for Banjo and Ridley boarded the Great Fox. Ridley and Banjo both took flight, and the Smashers flew after Dharkon into the Dark Realm.

Ridley was the first to land, and Snake appeared next to him out of some type of wormhole. As the dragon stared at him quizzically, Snake pocketed some kind of device and grunted, "Look above you." Ridley did so, and he immediately moved out of the way to avoid being crushed by a gigantic ship.

Isaac stepped off the ship, and looked around the new location. Matthew did the same, and upon seeing something in the distance, he muttered, "It can't be..."

As everyone else came in for a landing, Isaac asked his son, "What do you see?"

"That's... the Apollo Sanctum!"

"The what?"

"Apollo Sanctum! That's where the Grave Eclipse ended! What's it doing down here?"

"I wouldn't know-"

Mario interrupted the two with, "Okay! Now, we have to-a explore this-a place to get the rest of-a our friends back. So, we'll be splitting off-a into groups of-"

 _"Ah ah ah! Before you can do any saving, I want to see what you're capable of. Face this army, and you may continue your search!"_

Ryu asked, "What army?"

 _"I'm glad you asked... to some of you, this may be a BLAST FROM THE PAST!"_

Several purple-and-white UFOs flitted over them, and Mario's blood ran cold as he remembered what he had seen all those days ago. The Shroob UFOs stopped by where everyone had parked their vehicles, and one of the saucers pulled out a ray gun and fired a bright pink laser which destroyed all of the present vehicles, save for the Observatory, which vanished before anything could happen to it. On the ground, Commander Shroob led a massive horde of the aliens, with numerous other subspecies present in the crowd, including, but not limited to: Shroids, RC Shroobers, the Junior and Elder Shrooboids, Guardian Shroobs, Blazing Shroobs, Shrooba Divers, Shroob Rexes, Spiny Shroopas, Tashroobas, and Shroobsworths that had Intern Shroobs riding piggyback-style. Nervously tapping his brother's shoulder, Luigi asked, "Uh... Mario... what should we do?"

Mario said nothing, which made Luigi even more worried. Peach tried asking him a question, and he just stared blankly. As everyone else stared in confusion, Dr. Mario quietly whispered to the two of them, "I think he's in shock... Luigi, you two have that sibling bond, right?"

"I've been trying to use that, but I keep getting forced out of his head!"

"I can read his mind."

Ness stepped to the front, and Dr. Mario said, "Well, if it works... give it a shot, kid, and please tell us what you see."

Ness nodded, and closed his eyes and began to concentrate. Putting a hand on Mario's shoulder, he ended up getting a glimpse inside the plumber's mind, and what little he saw made him sick: fires everywhere, people dead, and those same UFOs above them flying in a ruined Mushroom Kingdom. Breaking the connection instantly, he gasped, which made everyone stare in concern before Matthew asked, "What happened?"

Ness responded, "I think he has issues regarding these aliens..."

Sighing, Stefano thought to himself, _"Issues is a massive understatement, I think he's got PTSD. Note to self: More therapy is needed for Cousin Mario."_

Bowser growled, "Well, it doesn't matter. We need to stop these things before they kill us all!"

Commander Shroob blew his whistle, and his army charged. Mario, snapping out of his trance, glared at Bowser with a look that said, 'I'm gonna kill you later,' before yelling, "LET'S-A GO!"

Behind him, Luigi said, "Okey-dokey!" Mario gave a slight smile at that, before he leaped into the horde of Shroobs, beginning to smack whatever he could with his Ultra Hammer. Behind him, Stefano rubbed his hands together, charging them like they were defibrillators, and Luigi snapped his fingers, causing a spark of electricity to dance along his hand. Together, the two of them began battling the aliens, with Luigi having hypercharged his Poltergust, and Dr. Mario overloading Shroids as well as crushing the aliens with his bare fists.

Looking around, Wario asked, "Anyone got a match?" Suddenly, a stray fireball from a Blazing Shroob landed right on him, setting him on fire. With a triumphant cackle, Wario ran right into the horde, acting as a flaming battering ram.

Behind the four of them, Snake had assumed the position as leader, and began issuing commands to everyone. When he turned to where Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong were supposed to be standing, he asked, "Wait, where'd they go?"

 _"ATTENTION ALL SMASHERS!"_

Everyone except the four in battle looked up to see both Kongs tied up and being hauled into a flying battleship being piloted by King K. Rool, whose eyes were a dark purple with black sclerae. Snake motioned for everyone who he had given commands to leave, and Isaac, Bowser, Pikachu, and Greninja did just that. Seeing that he now had their attention, King K. Rool shouted into the megaphone he was holding, _"IT IS I, KAPTAIN K. ROOL OF NEO CROCODILE ISLE! IF YOU WANT YOUR PRECIOUS KONGS BACK, YOU WILL HAVE TO FIND ME IN THE FRANTIC FACTORY!"_

Both Kongs looked at each other in shock upon hearing the name of the location, and K. Rool lowered his megaphone before saying, _"That's correct, banana brains! Lord Dharkon's reconstructed the place. And now, I hear that they're working on something called 'Project EXCELSUS.'"_ Smirking, the reptilian monarch continued, _"Would you like to see your old friend Mad Jack again?"_

While King K. Rool was laughing maniacally as the Flying Krock flew towards the factory, with Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong in tow, Snake said, "Okay, focus on the aliens first, and then we'll break the bad news to Mario." Everyone else nodded, and were about to proceed, but Matthew saw what looked like a massive purple bomb with red eyes waddling onto the field, and he asked, "What the hell is that?"

Once again, Simon gave him a disapproving look, but the looks on everyone else's faces agreed with the Adept's reaction. Snake then said, "I don't know, but today..."

Pulling out an M4 Custom, the mercenary finished, "...we fight."

* * *

The ongoing fight was pandemonium, and Commander Shroob had just summoned his last resort: the Shroob-omb. All he had to do was give the signal, and a Blazing Shroob would light the fuse, eradicating the red and green mustache-men along with his army. It seemed cruel to him, but his superior commander, that giant floating mass of tentacles, had claimed it was only a small price to pay for the goal of wanton destruction.

Snake jabbed an RC Shroober with his gun before firing, and pulled out the pin of one of his grenades using his teeth before throwing it into a crowd of Shroobs. Looking behind him, he saw a Dr. Shroob that had swallowed one of its own Steroid Shrooms rampaging towards Greninja and Ness, and he pulled out his grenade launcher, firing an entire set of six into the Shroob's open mouth, which then blew apart the alien once the explosives detonated. Near him, Sonic ran over a formation of Blazing Shroobs before jumping up to axe kick a Shroid, and he sprinted into the horde to wreak some more havoc.

Mario and Bowser were holding a group of Shroobs back, and Mario yelled at Bowser, "Get in-a your shell!"

"Why?"

"JUST DO IT!"

Bowser did as he was told, and Mario gave the shell a hard smack using his hammer, causing Bowser to pinball around the field, wiping out several Guardian Shroobs, some Shroob Rexes, an entire platoon of Shroobsworths, and running over the Junior Shrooboid. Bowser came sliding to a stop next to Mario, who asked the dizzy Koopa King, "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" As Mario ran off, Bowser tilted his head quizzically in the plumber's direction, wondering what the heck was going on with him.

Seeing how badly the battle was going, Commander Shroob gave the signal, which was a rallying cry of _"DESTROY!"_ A Blazing Shroob lit the fuse on top of the Shroob-omb, and everyone blanched upon seeing the fuse slowly countdown to an explosive end for everyone on the battlefield. Looking around, Cloud steeled his resolve, and used Big Guard to shield everyone. Isaac and Matthew got the same idea, and used Flash and Chasm respectively to protect the others. Mario and Luigi began passing around Green Peppers, while Joker summoned Thoth for a party-wide Resist Nuke.

Wario's stomach growled, and he exclaimed, "Ooohh... that's a big grape over there!" Walking over to the Shroob-omb, he swallowed it in one gulp, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then a miniature mushroom cloud appeared, which turned Wario to ash, and the ash quickly reconstituted itself back into the treasure hunter's form. The whistle and mustache fell off of Commander Shroob's face, and he urgently commanded his army to retreat, now in fear of the man who had eaten their greatest military weapon.

Once the last of the Shroobs had cleared up, Captain Falcon said, "That was... interesting." Turning to Yoshi, he asked, "Can he do that on a regular basis?"

Yoshi nodded, Dr. Mario began urgently flipping through his anatomy book, and Little Mac walked to a nearby rock to sit down for a moment and contemplate what just happened. Snake walked over to Mario and grunted, "Both Kongs were kidnapped by the lizard king," but Mario waved him off impatiently, telling him to pass the news to Peach, as he had his own thing at the moment.

Once the commotion about Wario eating the bomb had died down, Mario, with a notable growl, said, "Okay! Now, onto more pressing matters..."

Turning around, Mario punched Bowser right in the jaw.

* * *

 **Welcome to the Dark Realm!**

 **Things'll take a turn for the worse around here...**

 **As for my guest reviewer, yes, those four plus two others will still be stuck in the Final Battle… though I'm not adverse to switching one of the _Fire Emblem_ characters for Bayonetta, because she is WAY too much fun to write. As for whether I'd do a Subspace Emissary fic or write about previous Smash tournaments in this AU, yes, I have considered those as stories.**


	25. Demons of the Past

**...Well. Things have certainly gone south.**

 _ **"Wait-wait-wait! DON'T OPEN THAT!"**_

* * *

"OW! What the hell was that for?!"

Mario glared at Bowser, who was massaging his jaw in pain, and he spat out, "You know _exactly_ what that was for, Bowser." Murmurs of confusion rang among those who knew Mario, wondering what Bowser had done that made the plumber snap, especially since normally, the two of them were relatively friendly outside of anything regarding Peach.

Luigi stepped up next to his brother, glaring at Bowser with a steely stare, and he said, "Bowser is the reason why those genocidal freaks are still around."

"What do you mean, Luigi?"

Mario answered for his brother with, "I'll tell you what happened, Peach. This was back when we were trying to stop the Dark Star..."

* * *

 _"Okay, Luigi! What's-a the code?"_

 _Luigi, holding out a piece of paper, read out, "Uh, square, square, circle, triangle, triangle, triangle!"_

 _Mario hit the buttons in that exact sequence, and the door to Bowser's freezer opened. Starlow materialized, and she pondered, "Hmm... I wonder what Bowser's keeping in there... Let's check it out! Oh, but before you do, maybe you guys should prepare for the worst, so make sure that you're in prime condition, 'kay?"_

 _Mario and Luigi nodded, and walked inside the cold room. Inside, they found a large group of... things frozen inside blocks of ice, with one gigantic thing frozen in ice in the center. Luigi stammered, "M-M-Mario, I don't like the feel of this room..."_

 _"Oh, don't-a worry, Luigi, I'm-a sure everything'll be alright." Mario swung his hammer at the big red button, and the room rumbled. Walking up to the front, they looked at what was inside the ice. It looked very... alien, yet familiar. Luigi's stomach began sinking as he began to piece together what these frozen things were, but before he could say it out loud, three of the ice blocks defrosted, revealing a trio of basic purple Shroobs stuck in humorous poses. After a moment, the three aliens collapsed to the ground._

 _Starlow materialized, and she asked, "What... are they?"_

 _She got no response, as both brothers were paralyzed in horror. Luigi took a few steps back before flying into a frenzied panic, and Starlow demanded, "What's gotten into the both of you?!"_

 _Luigi managed to utter, "Th-th-they're the Shroobs!"_

 _"Shroobs?"_

 _"They're aliens that invaded the Mushroom Kingdom when we were just toddlers!"_

 _"Wait... you defeated them when you were BABIES?!"_

 _Turning towards the aliens, she then asked, "Why are they here?" Something clicked in her head, and she realized, "Bowser must've grabbed some of the survivors and cyrogenically frozen them... as always, his hobbies are basically pure evil."_

 _Mario had finally shaken himself out of his trance, and he saw that the Shroobs were beginning to pull themselves together. Once the three aliens had gotten up, they looked at each other and began talking in their language. The brothers caught only one word in their gibberish: "Destroy." The three of them jumped off the platform and pointed their ray guns at the brothers, who, while clearly frightened, put on the bravest faces they could..._

* * *

Peach gasped in shock when Mario had finished the story (or at least, half of it). Turning to Bowser, she demanded, "Bowser, is this true? And if so, how did you even get a _hold_ of the Shroobs?"

Bowser, realizing he had been caught in the act, decided to confess, saying, "Yes. It's true. All of it. As for how I got them, I found some survivors trying to re-clone their army, and I captured them and froze them along with their research."

Mario hissed, "And just _what_ were you planning to do with the Shroobs, Bowser?"

"I... can't tell."

Luigi, now mad, asked, "But why can't you tell? This is important for the safety of the Mushroom World!"

"Now's not the time for politics, and to be honest, this conversation doesn't involve you, Green 'Stache!"

"What do you mean, 'doesn't involve him?' That's a load of Koopa droppings! The only reason you're even alive is because of my brother!"

"What, the wussy crybaby? Because that's all I remember him being when we were kids- OUCH!"

Mario had given Bowser a hard smack in the jaw with the Ultra Hammer, and he snarled, "Don't. Ever. Insult. My. Brother!"

Spitting out a tooth, the Koopa King growled, "You got a death wish, plumber boy?"

"All bets are off at this point, Bowser..." What happened next was an absolutely brutal, visceral, drag-out brawl that lacked any of the slapstick that had defined their rivalry in the Mushroom Kingdom. Everyone else stared in a mixture of amazement and horror at the brutality displayed, as Bowser raked Mario across the face before spitting a fireball point-blank. Mario rolled out of the way before using an Ice Flower to freeze Bowser's jaw shut, and he grabbed Bowser by the tail after sliding under his legs. After swinging him around a few times, he began slamming Bowser in a back-and-forth fashion before hurling him behind him. Just as Mario was about to use his Hammer Suit, Snake grabbed him in a chokehold, and dragged him away, which was met with kicking and biting from Mario, who now sported a black eye and several claw marks on his face, to say nothing of Bowser, who looked like an absolute mess, with a bruised jaw, several broken ribs, a black eye, and cracks running down his shell.

Everyone stared in horror at the mess that Bowser was. If this was what Mario was capable of...

Samus interrupted the dead silence, saying, "Uh... shouldn't we split up?" No one noticed that Matthew had run up to the golden tower in the distance.

The Adept, holding his Glyph Book, read the inscription on the wall of the Apollo Sanctum Gate.

 _"THE KEY TO THE HEAVENS REMAINS BROKEN, SEARCH THE REALM TO ACHIEVE ASCENSION."_ Looking to his left, Matthew found a large slot on the door that resembled a large sun. Closing the book and putting it back in his bag, he ran back to the others, yelling, "I know what we have to do!"

Stefano had just finished bandaging Bowser's shell, and he asked, "Alright, kid, what is it? This had better be good."

"See that golden tower over there?" Everyone nodded, and Matthew continued, "That's the Apollo Sanctum. The inscription on the side read that we needed to find the pieces of a key to climb to the top, which I'm betting is our only way to get out!"

Snake commanded, "We need to split into groups again. See those three sectors?" Everyone nodded as Samus facepalmed in the back. Snake continued, "We need to split into three groups to find that key and our friends!"

Matthew interjected with, "I hate to interrupt, but the key is in thirteen pieces, so we're _really_ gonna need to search for these..."

"Unlucky number thirteen, huh?"

* * *

 _"FINALLY, I have you baboons in my grasp again! KAOS didn't work the last time I had you... so I think I'll just stick to the torture instead. We're almost at the Frantic Factory, so lighten up! You'll get to see some old friends... RA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"_

The mad laughter echoed in the foggy skies of the Dark Realm as the Flying Krock settled on the roof of the factory. Stepping inside, dragging his two prisoners in via nets, one member of the Smithy Gang, Bowyer, came up to King K. Rool, and asked, _"Nyah, when will the Smashers come!? Lord Smithy's getting very impatient, nyah!"_

Kaptain K. Rool snapped, _"Will you shut your trap, archer?! They'll come, I can feel it in my gold-plated belly! Oh, and by the way... ENJOY YOUR NEW LIFE IN THE REJECT BIN!"_ King K. Rool chucked both Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong into the reject chute, before walking back up to the roof and reentering the Flying Krock to act as a sort of security camera for Lord Dharkon.

Both Kongs crashed onto an elevated platform with a resounding thud, and Diddy Kong held up a sign that read, "Wait, didn't Tiny fight that thing in here?"

Donkey Kong was about to sign something, but was interrupted by a large, cubic object crashing onto another elevated platform. The lid of the box sprung open, and out came Mad Jack, still sporting that demented look on his face. With a duck-like snarl, the puppet cackled, _"I'm Mad Jack, and I'll be your friend 'till the very end... AAA-_ _HAAAHAAAHAAAHAAA!"_

Donkey Kong looked at his nephew before signing, "Well, we're screwed."

* * *

Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, and the Ice Climbers had decided to go north, Mario, Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Meggy, Evan, Mii Swordfighter, Red, Falco, and Sonic were going west, and Samus, Yoshi, Pikachu, Luigi, Ness, Peach, Bowser, Mr. Game & Watch, Wario, Villager, Rosalina, Pac-Man, Simon, Isaac, and Geno would be heading east. With Mario, Snake, and Rosalina being in charge of the Spirit Pouches, everyone bode farewell to one another, with the exception of Mario and Bowser, and they set off.

As Matthew led the others in his group, Joker asked him, "So, how was the Newcomer Ceremony?"

Matthew replied, "Oh, it was... alright."

"Only alright?"

Fox chimed in with, "Oh, no, it was AMAZING! You should've seen how we all reacted when Snake showed himself!"

"Oh, come on, McCloud, it wasn't that noteworthy..."

"What are you talking about? You were the man of the hour before all the newcomers were shown, remember?"

* * *

 _Once everyone from the third tournament, save for Bowser, Ganondorf, Wario, and Wolf had gotten their fill of hugging the mercenary, they all returned to their seats... only to jump right back out of them to start bombarding the mercenary with questions._

 _"How did-a you come back?"_

 _"Your world was sealed away, last I heard!"_

 _"Do you still have your grenade launcher?"_

 _"We saw a teenage girl in what was supposed to be your room. Who is she?"_

 _"Did you really retire?"_

 _"How come you're not old and wrinkly like the rumors said?"_

 _"Okay, okay, COOL IT, everyone, and I'll answer your questions, one at a time!" That had gotten everyone to shut up, and Snake began with, "Well, Mario, let's just say that Master Hand worked some crazy stuff." Looking at Pit, he snarked, "Would that really be true if Master Hand found me?" As Pit exclaimed in realization, he looked at Ness with a puzzled expression before nodding, and when he turned to Samus, he said, "That's Sunny, Hal's adopted daughter. You guys remember my support team?" Those who attended the third tournament nodded, and he continued, "Hal and Sunny are staying with me for this tournament with my pack of huskies."_

 _That had perked Wolf out of his seat. Running over, the vulpine mercenary asked, "Did you say... huskies?!"_

 _"Um... yes?"_

 _Wolf sprinted to the dorms, and everyone gave Fox and Falco puzzled looks. Falco shrugged and said, "Well, he's been obsessed with normal animals, from the most recent thing about him in the Cornerian Times."_

 _That had gotten a good belly laugh out of everyone, and Snake the turned to Luigi and answered, "Yeah, I did retire. Turns out that the Patriots were just simply a group that had good intentions which were carried out in the wrong ways."_ _Finally, turning to Sonic, he said, "Master Hand fixed me up. Got rid of the FOXDIE, those nanomachines... he even fixed my genes!"_

 _Everyone else continued asking Snake questions until he decided to go and interact with the new faces that had shown up in his absence..._

* * *

"You can't tell me that you weren't having fun with Bayonetta!"

"Douglas, she's got a great sense of humor, of course I did!" Pausing, he continued, "That, and her assets are admittedly impressive..."

Everyone who understood what Snake was saying burst out in laughter, and Joker asked Dr. Mario, "What's she like?"

"Oh, kid, you have no idea! She's a hilarious flirt, one time she did her full Wicked Weaves in front of Palutena and the angels before talking to them! Before we continue this conversation, let me ask you this question: Have you ever killed a god?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Perfect! The two of you'll get along just fine!" Walking forward, he called out, "Do you have any questions, Matthew?"

No response.

"Matthew?"

Greninja bounced off Cloud's head and grabbed onto the Adept's ankles, which were currently being sucked into a Spirit Orb. Despite his best efforts, he wasn't strong enough, and Matthew ended up getting sucked in.

Greninja looked at everyone else, and croaked, _"So... should we wait?"_

Snake, who had received some sort of earpiece from Red before they had parted ways, nodded.

* * *

Matthew found himself back at the top of the Apollo Sanctum. Looking around, he noticed that the Apollo Lens had not been fired, and he continued looking around before hearing a voice in his head that said, _"Matthew, is that you?"_

Matthew called out, "Sveta?" before walking over to what looked like the hem of a dress sticking out from behind one of the pillars, and looking behind it. Who he saw was Princess Zelda, except that her dress was black and purple, along with her hair being a very pale shade of lavender that greatly resembled Sveta's. Looking at her from top to bottom, he asked, "If you're really Sveta, do you remember the secret that I told you when we started dating?"

 _"You and Tyrell shared sleepwear once when you were seven."_

Matthew then scooped her up in a hug, exclaiming, "It really is you!" Laughing with joy, he planted a kiss on Zelda/Sveta's lips.

Once they had gently extricated themselves from each other's grasp, Sveta asked her boyfriend, _"Matthew... do you have any idea what this is all about?"_

"Erm... not really. All I know is that you ended up in some other princess' body."

 _"Well, if you need to save the world again, you know I'll support you no matter what. And, before I leave this body, why don't we spend some... quality time together, hmm?"_

Matthew nodded a bit too eagerly at that last part, and Sveta dragged him behind the Apollo Lens for some private time.

* * *

Cloud asked, "Seriously, how long has it been?"

Snake checked his watch and replied, "An hour."

"What could he be doing in there that requires an hour to accomplish?!"

On cue, Matthew dropped onto a napping King Dedede, holding a Spirit Orb which had Sveta's image inside it. Putting it inside the Spirit Pouch on Snake's belt, he began putting his jacket and scarf back on to hide the hickey Sveta had given him. Ignoring the various looks of disgust and surprise the other Smashers gave him, he asked, "Should we be going now?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Matthew pressed forward, everyone else following behind the Adept.

* * *

Luigi pushed aside a bunch of leaves to be greeted with a thick stench that reminded him of the Maligator ghost he had encountered in an old hotel that E. Gadd had tasked him to clean up. Looking to his right, he found a sign that read:

 **Welcome to KREM QUAY**

 **Watch out for the Gyarados!**

Pikachu scoffed, _"I could probably take that thing down in my sleep."_

As if to instantly prove the mouse wrong, a Towtow walked up to the water to drink, but was immediately snagged by a Gyarados that was much larger than the average specimen, and the Atrocious Pokémon dragged the cow into the depths to drown its prey. Pikachu jumped onto Ness' cap, before squeaking out, _"I retract my previous statement..."_ Ness pulled Pikachu off his hat before stroking his ears, and the Mouse Pokémon let out a content purr.

Behind him, Samus asked, "Can I pet him?"

That was met with a growl from Pikachu, whose cheeks began to spark, as he had not forgotten the words that Samus had said as revealed by Mr. Game & Watch. Samus pulled her hand back with a defeated sigh, and she trudged into the foggy marsh. Luigi, with the Poltergust G-00 on his back, turned on his flashlight and said to himself, "Okay, be brave... be brave..."

Something made a loud noise in front of him, which made him jump in shock, but with the use of his flashlight, it revealed that it was simply a tree trunk collapsing into the marsh. Wiping his brow in relief, Luigi pressed forward.

Isaac cautiously held the Gaia Blade out in front of him, as he was reminded of the Taopo Swamp back in Eastern Osenia, which had its own fair share of monsters.

Wario tripped on something, and when he looked back, he saw that it was shiny. Rubbing his hands in anticipation, he began digging through the ground, getting dirt on everyone else. What he unearthed was a large, rainbow-colored jewel that he immediately deduced would sell for a ridiculously good amount of money. Bowser, whose temper had gone up dramatically since his falling out with Mario, wrestled the jewel from Wario's grasp and chucked it into the swamp, where the Gyarados swallowed it in one gulp. In a panic, Wario jumped right into the swamp to fight the Pokémon so he could get the gemstone back.

After a moment of silence from everyone, Simon asked, "Just what is this man capable of?"

* * *

Mario trudged through the snow, shielding his face from the wintry sting that the wind brought. Everyone else behind him was trying to find a way to stave off the freezing temperatures, with even Ridley shivering from the cold. Kazooie popped out of Banjo's backpack and asked Mario, "So, mustache-man, what even happened in the years we were gone?"

"Well... the simple version is-a whole lot of stuff. If-a you want the long version, then sit-a tight while I make us-a fire." Toon Link walked over, holding a bundle of firewood, and he dropped it on the ground. With fire igniting in his hands, Mario lit the wood on fire, and everyone gathered around it for warmth. Looking up in the sky, Mario saw a blood moon, and he muttered to himself, "Mamma mia, that can't-a be good..."

"Well? You gonna tell us the juicy details or not?"

"I'm-a getting to that. After we-a last saw you, I got-a kidnapped by-a some crazy ghost, and then-a got framed for vandalism on Isle Delfino."

"Delfino?"

"It's-a very long story, but we-a ended up meeting Bowser's kid there. After that, there-a was a whole lot of partying and sports, and then I-a went to space."

"You lucky son of a Scabby! We've always wanted to go to space!"

"It-a was actually pretty fun, until the universe ended..."

Everyone listening exclaimed, "WHAT?!"

"Long story. Anyways, I went to-a space again, got-a kidnapped by the ghost again, went into some other kingdom, and then got to-a travel all around the world! As for the things I-a haven't mentioned, Luigi and I went to a tropical resort for-a some vacation, and we ended up meeting some-a crazy rabbits at one point."

After a moment of silence, Banjo said, "You have an interesting life, Mario."

"That's-a putting it lightly."

* * *

"Okay, this is ridiculous."

Cloud, looking at Snake, asked, "Isn't that the third ship we've conveniently found docked?"

"Yep. Also, what is with this fog?"

Joker said, "Either the Metaverse has somehow leaked into the real world..."

Matthew finished with, "...Or the Grave Eclipse has returned." With a large inhale, he detected a putrid musk which reeked of corpses and he gagged, "That's the Grave Eclipse, alright."

The ground ruptured at the group's feet, and Fox asked Matthew, "Say, you wouldn't happen to be using some magic spell right now, would you?"

"This isn't my doing..."

Various monsters, such as Cruel Dragons, undead Tuaparang soldiers, Zombie Dragons, and many others rose up out of the ground, leaving Joker and the others surrounded. Snake pulled out his Custom M4 and yelled, "Well, what are you waiting for?!"

Matthew jammed his sword into the ground, and vines began sprouting from the cracks the Sol Blade had left, choking the life out of several Sky Dragons before tossing them into the ocean of blood that was in front of them. Mega Man slid under a Cruel Dragon before blasting it in the back with the Solar Blaze, and at the same time, Matthew used Fever, which caused the dragon's skin to partially melt as it faded into dust, leaving behind a short sword. Matthew's eyes widened upon seeing the Tisiphone Edge, and he snatched the blade off the ground without hesitation. Re-sheathing the Sol Blade, he pulled out the Masamune, and began cutting through the monsters using both it and the Tisiphone Edge.

Snake kicked a Shroob Rex in the gut before jabbing it with his gun and then firing a few shots, while Joker called for Jack Frost. With a little dance, the Persona used Diamond Dust, freezing an Archangel solid, and Joker, after throwing the God of a Thousand Demons into the air, jumped up, struck a pose, and fired several bullets at the frozen creature, shattering it. Next to the both of them, Dr. Mario had just shattered a Rock Blast from a Gigalith using an electrical discharge, before whistling in Matthew's direction, asking for some water. Matthew obliged through the use of Froth Spiral, and Stefano moved out of the way just as the massive collection of bubbles swamped the Rock-type. Just as the Pokémon recovered, Kirby grabbed it, and with minimal effort, used a piledriver, burying the Compressed Pokémon in the ground. Inhaling the Gigalith, Kirby transformed into Stone Kirby, only for a cannonball to come out of nowhere and hit Kirby head-on, causing him to lose the ability.

The Flying Krock loomed over the Smashers ominously, as King K. Rool climbed down a rope ladder, now in his Baron K. Roolenstein persona, and the mad scientist yelled, _"Fellow Smashers! It is I, Baron K. Roolenstein, second-in-command to Lord Dharkon! You have fought valiantly, I admit, but it is simply not enough!"_ Climbing back into the ship, Roolenstein pressed a black and red button, and a hatch opened up on the underbelly of the ship, and it began raining TNT Barrels. Some of the barrels managed to knock a few Sky Dragons and a Lesser Lopros out of the sky, but most of them rained down onto the ground, surrounding the Smashers as well as the numerous enemies in a swirling firestorm.

Laughing maniacally, K. Roolenstein accidentally grabbed a live wire, and the resulting shock caused him to revert to his Kaptain K. Rool personality. Going back to the wheel of the Flying Krock, he flew it southeast, towards Krem Quay and Dracula's Castle.

* * *

 _"Well? Any news?"_

Princess Shroob held up a dual-screened communication device, where on it, a single Shroob nodded, and in their language, said, _"The mustache-men of red and green are back."_

Crushing her goblet of Vim out of sheer frustration, she said, _"How are the Shroobification experiments going on in the labs?"_

The Shroob, revealing himself to be in a dark laboratory, said, _"Currently, our efforts to Shroobify the living balloon and the human with the sword have been unsuccessful, though we did find this weird Beanish person who kept talking about having 'chortles.' He's been given to Lord Dharkon. However, we have partially managed to Shroobify some sort of... wolf-man, it looks like."_

The beast in question let out a low snarl before clawing out its eyepatch, revealing a blood-red eye with a black sclera. With a feral growl, Wolf O'Donnell lunged at the Shroob scientist, and on Princess Shroob's end, the video feed cut to static.

Down in the laboratory, Wolf chugged an entire vial of Vim that was on the researcher's table, before clawing his way out of the dungeon. Once in the greater basement of Shroob Castle, he overpowered the first Shroob grunt he came across for its ray gun. Now with a second weapon, Wolf began looking around for his Wolfen, which he figured would be his ticket out of the wretched building that those aliens called a castle.

* * *

 **Some interesting developments, I see!**

 **To both guest reviewers, thanks for the kind words.**

 **When I say _partial_ Shroobification, I mean partial.**


	26. Breaching New Territories

**Sorry for the wait, I was working on my latest fic; _Golden Sun: The Lunar Calamity_. Go check it out if you wish!**

 _ **"Wh-what?! He just caught that Fulminous Edge like it was nothing! How does that even work?"**_

* * *

Wolf hacked out a cluster of purple spores mixed with a hairball upon killing yet another Shroob grunt. Looking at the gunk in his hand, he cast it aside in disgust before continuing the search for his ship. Entering a dark room, he turned on his Reflector, and much to his delight, he found himself in a room full of empty Shroob UFOs, along with his prize in the very back of the room. Before he could get any closer, though, a bright green laser missed his head by millimeters, and looking ahead, he saw three black Shroobs, each of them equipped with an extra weapon in addition to their blasters. Wolf coughed up yet another cluster of spores, and turned his own weapon towards the Anti-Shroob Unit, growling, _"So, it's a fight you want, huh?"_

The chatter of the aliens seemed to fall on one word that repeated endlessly before one of them pulled out a miniature grenade launcher, firing a ball of purple gunk towards the lupine bounty hunter...

* * *

When Cloud came to, the first thing he saw was Matthew shaking the soldiers' corpses for loot. Sitting up, he asked, "What are you doing?"

Matthew had just finished shaking off a handful of Psy Grenades from a Tua soldier, and he said, "We need supplies, don't we?"

Next to him, Joker was doing the same, and Snake, who was looking at the two of them, grunted in approval, "Nothing like good old OSP... smart move, kid."

To Snake's right, Dr. Mario was evaluating Fox for injuries, while Kirby was inhaling whatever enemy he could to see what abilities he would get. Upon inhaling a Tua Soldier, he ended up donning a snazzy purple hat and gained a bow and arrow, turning into Archer Kirby.

Matthew walked towards the ship, and asked the others, "We'll never know what's on the other side if we don't bother looking, right?" Not even waiting for an answer, the Venus Adept impatiently demanded, "Come on, let's go!"

* * *

With a deranged laugh, Mad Jack pulled a lever on the wall, and half of the elevated platforms in the room began crackling with electricity. After yet another laugh, he yelled, _"Where are you, Kongs?"_

The two Kongs were on the floor, having climbed down the support pillar on one of the platforms to reach the ground level, and the two of them began looking for ways to harm the demented jack-in-the-box. Remembering what Tiny had told them all those years ago, they began looking for some sort of device that was capable of electrocuting Jack.

The puppet in question had run out of patience, and used his robotic eye to scan the room for the primates. Detecting heat signatures on the floor, Jack retreated inside his box and fell to the floor, hitting it with a hard thud. Both Kongs immediately stopped what they were doing and began running away from the box. Mad Jack erupted from the container, but instead of giving chase, he turned invisible and began to lazily cut off the various exits of the reject room, either by throwing fireballs or shooting lasers from his eye.

Once every last exit (save for the way of getting into the reject bin) had been sealed, Jack then began to quietly pursue the two Kongs, creepily singing, _"One, two, Mad Jack's coming for you... three, four, better hit the floor... five, six, this ain't for kicks... seven, eight, you'll be scared straight... nine, ten, we'll do this again! Forever and ever... AAA-HAAHAAHAAHAA!"_

Both Kongs, understandably unnerved by the song, failed to notice a large orange glove ominously looming above them...

* * *

Wolf, having disposed of the Anti-Shroob Unit after a rather grueling fight, walked into his Wolfen, when all of a sudden, a voice said, _"Please provide information for DNA scan."_

A small tray popped out inside Wolf's cockpit, and the leader of Star Wolf hacked out another cluster of purple spores, which the tray accepted.

 _"Scanning... Pilot recognized. Welcome aboard, Wolf O'Donnell."_

Wolf looked inside his ship, and he grudgingly gave the aliens his respect for managing to repair and upgrade his Wolfen substantially, though the Spirit inside him suggested that it was their own selfish means that had motivated them to do it. With a low growl, Wolf punched the ignition as well as the sequence for the vehicle's transformation function, and the Wolfen transformed into Hunter mode before letting out a robotic howl. Wolf then commanded it to escape the crazy castle he was currently confined in, and the Wolfen bounded up and out of the dungeons before mauling a handful of Guardian Shroobs. Once the two aliens had been disposed of, Wolf directed his ship towards the front gates, and the Wolfen clawed through them like they were made of paper. Once he had gotten out of there, Wolf made the Wolfen revert to its normal mode, and he took off, saying, _"You haven't seen the last of me, Star Fox!"_

* * *

Wario landed in a pool of stomach acid, the contents of which included his rainbow gem, the corpse of the Towtow from earlier, and the skeletons of Kremlings and various other Pokémon whose names he never bothered to even learn. Scooping the jewel into his overalls, he then began punching the walls of the Gyarados' stomach, in an attempt to make the Pokémon spit him out, be it through vomit or any other means.

Outside, the Gyarados began roaring in pain before thrashing about wildly, and it spit out Wario after about five minutes of the treasure hunter punching its stomach. Wario, covered in stomach acid that was tinged with red, walked back to the others, who stared at him in disgust. Peach asked, "Wario, what did you even do to that Gyarados?"

Wario nonchalantly replied, "Eh, doesn't matter. What matters is that this bod..." he said, flexing his muscles, "...is perfectly unharmed!"

Yoshi made the cuckoo sign while pointing at Wario, and the group continued to walk through the marsh, while in the waters, Humbaba quietly and carefully stalked the group of Smashers...

* * *

Mario's group had gotten past most of the 'hail' part of Hailfire Peaks, having encountered several Spirits, and Mario had identified them upon their captures as a Frost Piranha, Mei Ling, and Shadow Man respectively. Coming across a portion of the snowy wasteland that was filled with a thick black fog, Banjo began sniffing the air, and he choked, "Bleh! This smells worse than Grunty's old lair!"

Kazooie, through a rag, spluttered, "Oh, come on, we went through literal piles of crap for a Jiggy, there's no way _that_ was worse!"

Before the two of them could began debating on which place stunk worse, Mario's voice interrupted with, "We're at-a the Frantic Factory... any idea on how to get in?"

Ridley cricked his neck before walking up to the front, and he began using his tail as a lock pick of sorts. With a little bit of effort, the door clicked, shattering the lock, and it swung open... only to reveal another door. Ridley swore something fierce, and Red sent out Charizard, who used Fire Blast to melt through the door, revealing a brick wall with a message on it that read, _"This factory is property of the Kremling Krew and the Smithy Gang."_

Mario said, "Oh, you have-a got to be kidding me..." Pulling out his Ultra Hammer, he swung at the wall, shattering it with one blow, and the interior of Frantic Factory was revealed.

Conveyor belts and various pieces of highly dangerous machinery were all over the place, and the belts themselves were littered with bombs, living weapons, and all sorts of evil Kremling toys, all in the final stages of production. Before they could step in, they heard mad laughter, accompanied by the sound of folding metal, and Mario thought to himself, _"Man, Smithy must've really gone off the deep end, huh?"_ Pushing that thought to the back of his head, Mario led his companions into the factory.

* * *

Planting the Sol Blade into the neck of a Hydra, Matthew watched the beast dissolve into dust before opening a pack of rations that Snake had passed to him earlier. As he dug in, he touched the mark that 'Sveta' had left on his neck shortly before he had left her, and he sighed in a dreamy fashion, while behind him, Cloud grunted, "Hmph. Lovebird."

Little Mac nudged Cloud and jokingly said, "Hey man, don't knock it 'till you've tried it!"

His hard expression softening, Cloud said, "I did. It didn't end well for her... she ended up getting run through by some homicidal maniac."

"Oh. Well... I'm sorry about that, Cloud." Mac placed a hand on the ex-SOLDIER's shoulder in sympathy before walking away to Dr. Mario for health tips. Snake, currently steering the ship, yelled, "Take cover!"

Everyone ducked as Wolf's ship fired a burst of lasers, and the pilot, the infamous Wolf O'Donnell, dismounted and landed in a three-point stance. Drawing his blaster, Wolf snarled, _"What are you doing in the Sea of Blood?"_

Fox stepped up to the front, holding his own blaster, and he said, "We could ask you that same question, Wolf."

Twirling the firearm in his hand, Wolf snarled, _"Orders from Lord Dhark-"_ The vulpine mercenary then hacked out a hairball that was covered in purple spores, and everyone that was on deck retched in disgust. Once he had regained his bearings, Wolf continued, _"Those blasted Shroobs captured me and began experimenting on me, because they thought I was one of you."_ Inching closer with a zombie-like gait, he threateningly pointed his firearm at Fox. The deranged look in his Shroobified eye becoming more apparent, he pointed the bayonet at Fox's chest and whispered, _"I'll make you suffer like I did under them."_

Fox kicked Wolf down low, and he let out a high-pitched whine as Fox quickly got out of his rival's range. Switching his blaster's cartridge from 'chip away' to 'stun,' he fired a yellow laser at Wolf, but he rolled out of the way before using Wolf Flash to close the distance between himself and Fox. Snake pulled out his tranquilizer and fired a dart, but Wolf pulled out his reflector and bounced the dart back at Snake, who after a moment, collapsed to the floor and began snoring. Wolf then began to approach Fox, before lunging in and clawing at his face. The slashes had left red lines over Fox's right eye, but in spite of that, he gave Wolf a hard kick to the midsection before pulling out his blaster.

As Wolf stumbled back, he saw that Matthew and Cloud were attempting to subdue him with a combination of Growth and Stop, but Wolf slashed the vines apart like they were made of paper before taking out Cloud with a fierce palm strike. Facing the Adept, Wolf pulled out his blaster and snarled, _"Kid, you have no idea who or what you're dealing with."_

Matthew retorted with, "I think I have a pretty good idea," as he cast Odyssey. Wolf dodged the first sword, reflected the second sword into the deck, dodged the third, and leapt high above the fourth one before he was grounded by the fifth sword which came from above. Hitting the deck with a hard thud, Wolf then immediately lunged for Matthew, slashing at the Adept's legs before giving the Adept a hard punch to the back of the head, which took him out of the fight.

Little Mac and Fox then rushed the lupine mercenary, with Mac lunging forward with a body hook, and Fox wall jumping off the mast of the ship. Wolf sidestepped the hook, and kicked the short boxer down low, which especially hurt given that Wolf's boots were adorned with steel tips. As Little Mac collapsed in pain, Wolf snidely flicked his thumb on his snout before calling for his Wolfen to retreat... only to get pistol-whipped by Fox. Twirling his pistol before reholstering it, Fox then dragged Wolf's unconscious body belowdecks, before taking the wheel from a resting Snake, who had somehow managed to steer the ship off course in his sleep.

* * *

Mario crushed a Hippopo with a glancing blow from his Ultra Hammer, revealing the machinery inside the robotic hippopotamus. Idly casting it aside, he then lit a fire in his hand to navigate the others through a dark hallway.

All seemed to be going well until Ridley, due to his massive size, accidentally stepped on a booby-trapped tile. As everyone looked around in a mixture of confusion and panic, the floor suddenly gave way, and all fourteen of the Smashers in Mario's group fell down into the reject chute.

Upon landing, their first impression of the room was that it was pitch black. Mario snapped his fingers, and a small fireball came to life, dancing around in his hands. Navigating the incredibly spacious room, his feeling of dread slowly began building until he heard a voice ask, _"Have I been gifted with more guests?"_

Mario and the others said nothing, and instead continued navigating. The voice spoke once more, this time saying, _"Your two little monkey friends are persistent, yes, but I've got them right where I want them..."_

Mad Jack flipped a switch, and all of a sudden, the reject bin was flooded with light. Pulling a rope above him, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong descended from the ceiling, tied up in ropes, and appearing to be very, very beaten up.

Mario and company took their first look at the demented jack-in-a-box, and just as Mario was about to say something, the puppet clicked his teeth together, making an ear-piercing scraping sound, and he taunted, _"Don't even try and play hero, Mario... I'm in charge of this joint. And also..."_ Mad Jack pulled down the lever on a box that was labeled with 'High Voltage,' and both Kongs received a vicious electric shock, and the elevated platforms the Smashers were standing on began glowing with blue and white lights. With a deranged cackle, he yelled, _"Good luck catching me, buggers!"_ as he turned himself invisible.

The Mii Swordfighter brandished his sword, and shouted, "Have at you, fiends!" as the reject chutes started dropping all sorts of robotic enemies. Kazooie popped out of Banjo's backpack, and the duo took flight, trying to reach the primates.

* * *

Luigi wiped off the muck that stained his overalls, and let out a sigh of relief once he saw that everyone else had made it out of the swamp. Walking forward, the group met a fork in the path. On one side was a large building that resembled a temple, along with a white circle with peculiar markings being in a square of dead grass just in front of the fork.

Isaac looked at the circle, and at the temple, and in a quiet voice, said, "That's the Anemos Sanctum..." Turning to Peach, he said, "I have a hunch that there'll be a piece of the key my son was talking about in there. I'm... going to need to take seven others with me, because the guardian of the inner sanctum will _not_ be going down without a fight."

Peach, after a bit of deliberation, nodded and said, "Okay."

Wario stepped up to Isaac, and asked, "Okay, kid, I wanna know: is there any treasure in there?" Isaac, remembering how Garet was the one who carried all of their Orihalcons, nodded, and Wario said, "Wario's in, then." Yoshi and Pikachu then stepped towards Isaac and Wario, followed by Geno, Samus, Pac-Man, and Mr. Game & Watch. The eight of them stood on the circle, and Isaac used Teleport, whisking them away to the Anemos Inner Sanctum. Everyone who didn't go with Isaac instead went down the other path.

* * *

Once Snake had woken up, Fox stepped away from the wheel of the ship, and said to Snake, "Keep north."

Walking down, he saw Matthew and Little Mac getting checked by Dr. Mario, with Stefano having bandaged Matthew's head and ankle while giving Little Mac a bag of ice and telling him to go into one of the rooms to rest for a few hours. The boxer did so, and Joker, up in the crow's nest, began surveying the sky for any Spirits or threats coming from above.

A robotic shark with a turbine in its mouth leapt out of the water, but Mega Man simply shot a Thunder Beam at it, causing the shark to short out and explode. Removing his helmet and changing back to his civilian guise, Rock then began to polish the helmet with a rag.

Just as Fox was about to head belowdecks for some well-earned rest, a loud, violent knock on the door made him jump, and everyone else stopped what they were doing to look at the door. After another knock, Wolf punched a hole in the door before opening it from inside. Panting from exhaustion, Wolf asked, "What am I doing on this ship, McCloud?"

Fox remained unyielding, still pointing his firearm at Wolf's head, and he said, "Prove to me that you're still not under a Spirit. Where's your Fighter Pass?"

Wolf dug into his pockets, and passed a card to Fox. Fox saw Wolf's name on the card, along with a big 44 underneath his name. Passing the black-and-purple card back to Wolf, he said, "We have a world to save."

Wolf, pulling himself back up, said, "Again?"

"Yeah. Truce?" Fox extended his hand towards Wolf as a peace offering.

Wolf, after a moment, shook Fox's hand, repeating, "Truce."

* * *

 **Our first fighter from the Dark Realm has been recovered!**

 **To the guest reviewer, I wanted to leave the identity of the sword-wielder as ambiguous as possible to jab at the ridiculous amount of swordfighters in the game.**

 **Joker's fun, I just stink at using lightweights.**

 **And, as mentioned up above, I've been working on a second fic concurrently, _Golden Sun: The Lunar Calamity_. Check it out!**

 **Reviews are welcome!**


	27. Doktor Jack's Operation

**I think my distaste of _Fire Emblem_ has come up a few times, but I'd like to explain it in full. Truth is... I don't really hate the franchise, the characters are just going to be a major pain in my ass to write because I have never played a _Fire Emblem_ game.**

 **Oh, and also... something pretty graphic happens in this chapter, as a preemptive warning.**

 _ **"And now, ladies, gentlemen, creatures of all ages... Prepare for the greatest magic show you'll ever see!"**_

* * *

Luigi looked at the castle in front of them, and audibly swallowed. Behind him, Simon stoically said, "Dracula's Castle has risen once more." On cue, a dramatic lightning bolt struck, illuminating the sky.

Luigi, in an effort to calm down, muttered to himself, "Well, as long as I don't run into anything scary, this'll all be fine..."

Bowser punched through the gates to the castle, and Simon stepped through, saying to the group, "Follow my lead." The Poltergust strapped on his back, Luigi joined the others in entering the castle.

* * *

Mad Jack's compartment in the ceiling was filled with all sorts of levers, buttons, and a security camera to watch the Smashers fight against the army of weapons that had just been sent down the reject chute. Among one of those was a Robotic Operating Buddy, otherwise known as R.O.B., who had been sent down there because his choices of weaponry were mocked as 'too whimsical.'

R.O.B., his eyes a malicious purple, fired a Gyro at Mario, who reflected it back at the robot. R.O.B. instead decided to play tennis with the top, and he used Arm Rotor, sending it at Mario at an incredibly fast speed.

Ridley noticed that the Mii Swordfighter was in a bad spot, so he flew slightly above where he was and dragged his tail across the ground, cutting a zig-zag into the platform that the Swordfighter was standing on, clearing a path for him to move on. The Mii flashed a thumbs-up towards Ridley, who dismissively waved before noticing a hatch in the ceiling. Flying there, he pulled it down with some effort, and he flew into Mad Jack's ceiling compartment to slay the puppet, but upon entering the room where he had seen the puppet, he saw nothing. Looking around in confusion, he then felt a painful electric shock course through him, before receiving yet another serving of high-wattage electricity once the first had stopped. His vision blurring, the former Space Pirate looked around, but saw nothing again. It was then that a third zap knocked Ridley unconscious.

Mad Jack's box suddenly materialized, and the puppet emerged out of the box, holding a remote in his hands, before saying, _"A new specimen... perfect for research!"_ Looking at the anesthetics that the Smithy Gang had supplied him, Mad Jack swiped them all off the shelf in disgust, allowing them to break on the floor. What he would do to the dragon wouldn't necessitate those at all...

* * *

"Got any sevens, kid?"

"Go fish."

Wolf grumbled in annoyance as he grabbed another card from the pile in the middle. Joker turned to Snake and asked, "Got any kings?"

As he handed over a king of spades and a king of hearts, Snake asked, "How are you so good at this game?"

"I played a lot with friends while on probation."

"Probation?"

"Yeah... I got sent to Tokyo for a year for beating up a man who was trying force himself onto a woman."

Wolf and Snake perked up at that last part, and the former asked, "And _you_ got punished for it?" Joker nodded, and Wolf continued, "Why does that not surprise me... the justice system's _never_ on your side, kid, unless you're a politician."

"That's exactly what he was."

Snake shook his head in disbelief, as he recalled, "Yeah, politicians are a whole different breed of crazy... Hal and I watched a speech by this one Senator... Steven Armstrong, I think? Crazy guy. All he talked about was restarting the war economy that died with the Patriots and taking the fight to the Middle East. He was found dead in a machine accident just four months ago, though that doesn't explain the autopsy..."

Captain Falcon asked, "What was the autopsy?"

With a grim smile, Snake continued, "Getting there, Douglas... anyways, guy was found dead with several stab wounds going right through him along with the gory remains of what was his heart next to him. Apparently it was infused with nanomachines." Upon talking about it, though, in Snake's head, some cogs began turning, and he thought to himself, _"It can't be a coincidence that Desperado Enterprises ceased operations mere days after he died... could he have been in league with a PMC?"_

Snake shook those thoughts out of his head just as Matthew yelled out, "We've got something big and ugly on deck!"

Unholstering his SOCOM, he thought to himself, _"A soldier's work is never done..."_

* * *

Wario farted directly on a Sky Dragon, and the dragon collapsed as it dissolved into dust. Sifting through the ashes, Wario found a bar of what looked like solid gold, and he triumphantly exclaimed, "HA-HA! Wario's even richer!" Pocketing the Orihalcon, he looked at Isaac and asked, "Do the dragons in here carry those all the time?"

Isaac wordlessly nodded, while thinking to himself, _"What in the name of the Wise One was that? Flatulence as a Jupiter-aligned attack... blech, that's disgusting. And besides, I think we had to kill roughly 400 of those just to get 17 of the blasted things, and he got one on the first attempt..."_ Shuddering, he watched as Wario excitedly ran off into the deeper parts of the sanctum, the treasure hunter hoping to score some more loot.

Yoshi looked at Isaac, and asked, _"So what's the deal about these 'four elements of Alchemy?'"_

Isaac, channeling the spirit of Kraden, said to Yoshi, "Well, the four elements are Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, analogous to water and ice, earthly matters and necromancy, fire and heat, as well as lightning and wind respectively."

 _"Is that why those circles were there at the beginning?"_

"Yes and no."

Samus asked, "What do you mean, yes or no?"

"Well-"

Wario then emerged from the lower floors, a humongous stack of gold bars blocking his face, as he said, "Ooh, Wario's gonna make a ton of money!" Looking at everyone else's disapproving stares, he defensively asked, "What?"

Isaac's hand slid right off his face, and with an exasperated tone, the Adept said, "Let's just go deeper."

The eight of them proceeded to do just that.

* * *

Mario managed to hit R.O.B. hard, resulting in him flying right into a wall. As Mario attempted to regain his bearings, due to R.O.B. having put quite a beating on him, a machine-made copy of Axem Red attempted to run him through with his halberd, but Ryu saved him with a timely Shakunetsu Hadoken. Mario flashed a thumbs up, and Ryu replied, "Don't mention it," before leaping over to where Meggy and Evan were to assist them in bringing down an oversized barbecue grill that had a salmon stuck inside.

* * *

Ridley woke up in an incredibly uncomfortable position, being suspended by only his tail, yet he couldn't see anything. He heard something move around, and the voice of Mad Jack said, _"Subject's eyeballs have been burnt out... now where are those robotic eyes? Ah, there they are!"_ Ridley felt something being forcefully shoved into his eye sockets, before feeling the heat of a welder along his snout.

Once Mad Jack had finished with the eyes, he then looked at the creature's head. Silently, he thought to himself, _"No use in making him suffer if he can't see it or feel it!"_ Reaching for his scalpel, the insane puppet cut open the part of Ridley's head where his brain was, before cutting out the occipital lobe and welding the artificial lobe he had made in its place. Once that was done, he fashioned a robotic casing for Ridley's head and sealed the exposed part shut, waiting to see if the dragon would react.

After several agonizing minutes of darkness, Ridley finally was able to see again, only this time, it felt like he was scanning the area like a robot, managing to not only detect stuff normally, but also stuff that couldn't be seen with the naked eye, like heat signatures. Looking at his captor, he snarled, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?! I'll kill you once I break out of this!"

Mad Jack lumbered over to the dragon, before psychotically saying, _"Oh, it's simple... I'll maim you, I'll tear you apart, rip you to shreds, do everything that can possibly cause you pain and agony... and once I have you begging for mercy, I'll reconstruct you so I can do it. All. Over. Again."_ Grabbing Ridley by the lower jaw, he roughly tore it off, causing blood to dribble onto the floor and through the cracks. Shaking his head in annoyance, he grumbled, _"These test subjects are always so talkative..."_ Fashioning a robotic jaw, he welded it to the lower ends of Ridley's head casing before going behind him and ripping off his wings and tail, quickly suspending him by his legs once Ridley had fallen to the ground so that the dragon wouldn't get any funny ideas. Ridley screeched in pain, but Mad Jack casually laughed it off before grafting artificial wings onto the dragon's back and fashioning a metal tail for him.

* * *

Rosalina sent a mummy flying through the use of Star Bits, while Bowser burned a skeleton down to ashes. Villager hit a mummy over the head with his shovel before dropping a bowling ball right on top of it, causing it to disintegrate into a plume of dust. Ness then used his PSI to scan the area, and he gasped, turning to the others and saying, "There's a humongous vampire bat in the area!"

Luigi swallowed, before asking, "Y-you said bat, right?" Ness nodded, and Luigi sighed in relief, saying, "At least it isn't a ghost..." All of a sudden, the bat crashed through a window, and Luigi, though he was clearly frightened, made a finger gun and shot a bolt of lightning at the bat. With some effort, Simon threw an axe at the bat, managing to catch it in the eye, and Bowser shot several streams of fire at it. Once the bat was on the verge of death, Peach threw a Bob-omb in its mouth, causing it to explode into a swarm of tiny bats. Luigi looked at Simon, and asked, "Is that normal?"

Simon shook his head, replying, "I'm afraid so. However, you must remain vigilant, Luigi, for from here on out, Dracula's forces get more monstrous and aggressive."

To calm himself, Luigi took a head count of the others, but much to his horror, he saw that Ness was missing.

* * *

Ness found himself in that old-timey version of Mario's world where everything was all blocky, starting right at three dark blue Kirbys, each of them holding a Bob-omb. Rolling his eyes in exasperation, he quickly ended the fight with PK Rockin' Ω before snatching a Spirit Orb that had a Bob-omb inside of it and warping back into Dracula's Castle.

* * *

Snake fired one last explosive round into the Kraken's mouth, and the massive cephalopod burst into flames before exploding, showering the deck in squid guts. As Snake wiped off his sneaking suit in disgust, he was swiped into a Spirit Orb.

* * *

Landing on the ground, Snake looked up and saw that he was in a city that eerily resembled France. Before he could say anything on the matter, a familiar voice called out, _"Snake?"_

Snake's head whipped around, and he saw a Dr. Mario in a black lab coat enthusiastically waving at him, yelling, _"SNAKE!"_

Snake ran over and gave him a hug, exclaiming, "Hal! I thought I'd lost the two of you!"

A serious look came over the Dr. Mario's face, and Otacon said, _"Snake, I've been communicating with the Spirit of some girl named Aerith Gainsborough, that is apparently with you guys. Is that true?"_

Fishing through the Spirit Pouch on his belt, Snake pulled out a Spirit Orb that had a flower girl in a pink dress wielding a staff inside it, and Otacon nodded, saying, _"Yep, that's the one."_

Aerith's voice said, _"Hi, Hal!"_

 _"Hello to you too, Aerith."_

 _"We're going to save the world again... do you want in?"_

Hal mulled over it for a bit, before asking Snake to test the Codec. Snake nodded, walking a fair distance away before setting the frequency to 141.12. After several rings, Otacon's voice rang in Snake's ear, joyously exclaiming, _"It works!"_

Snake smiled a genuine smile of happiness, something that was rare for him, as he recovered Hal's Spirit Orb and placed it in the Pouch, returning onto the deck of the ship.

* * *

Upon returning back, Snake went up to the crow's nest and dialed Otacon's Codec. The scientist's voice came on the line once more, and Otacon said, _"David, if you need intel and information on these locations, I'm your guy."_

Snake smiled and replied, "Wouldn't have it any other way, Hal."

* * *

With some effort, Isaac managed to push the statue across the room, opening the door, and he muttered to himself, "I really, really hated that puzzle."

Wario, meanwhile, flew over the next puzzle with relative ease using a Jet Pot, and Isaac yelled at him, "Can you just carry us over?"

Grumbling in annoyance, Wario reluctantly did so, and within moments, the group was in the room which contained the final puzzle of the Anemos Inner Sanctum. Working together, the group pushed the tiles into their designated spots, and Isaac used Hover to levitate the bird they had just made. The bird carried them over to the other side, where a lone door awaited the Smashers. Walking in, Isaac looked in the back of the incredibly spacious room, and much to his excitement, a part of the thirteen-piece key his son had shown the others was there.

Just as he was about to take it, the air suddenly darkened as an otherworldly voice boomed, _"I am Dullahan, the shadow guardian, the keeper of light. If you wish to escape from this realm of darkness and obtain the sun's power, then show me your own."_

The headless fairy of death materialized, sword and shield in hand, and Isaac, though panic was clearly present in his voice, said, "We can do this!" Dullahan cut his sword through the mouth on his shield, and the air crackled with ozone as Dullahan swung, the Fulminous Edge briefly illuminating the room in a flash of blue-and-purple lightning.

Dullahan looked at the only Psynergy user in the room, and saw that he inexplicably had all 72 Djinn in Weyard on his person. Seeing that he had enough Djinn set on him for a summon, Dullahan used Crucible on Isaac, summoning Daedalus. The humongous robot fired a volley of missiles at the party, before launching one final massive missile that was set to land in a short bit. Dullahan then immediately used Djinn Storm on Isaac, forcing all of his Djinn into recovery mode.

Geno transformed into his cannon form, and Yoshi stuck an egg in there to act as ammunition. After a small pause, Geno fired, and the ballistic egg hit true. However, Dullahan was revealed to be almost unaffected, and he retaliated with Fulminous Edge, which the two barely managed to dodge.

Pac-Man attempted to drop his Fire Hydrant on the suit of armor, but Dullahan was completely unfazed, and used Condemn on Pac-Man, downing him instantly. Mr. Game & Watch reacted in shock before pulling him away from the carnage, while also pulling Isaac over and asking, "What _is_ that supposed to be?!"

Isaac replied, "A very powerful foe that guarded a valuable treasure back home in Weyard. But I don't know why he and the Anemos Sanctum are here!" To his right, Samus managed to blast Dullahan with a barrage of Super Missiles, but Dullahan used Dark Contact, severely draining Samus while healing himself. As Samus stood there dazed, Dullahan raised his sword to used Fulminous Edge once more, but Pikachu tackled her out of the way and blasted Dullahan with a powerful Thunder. However, Dullahan had raised his shield in front of the lightning bolt, resulting in a supercharged shield. With a cold, booming laugh, he scraped his sword along the mouth of his shield, and the entire sword appeared to be made of pure white-hot lightning.

Dullahan swung, and Yoshi caught the full brunt of the attack, being hurled into a wall before collapsing in a heap.

* * *

Mad Jack wiped the last of the blood off Ridley, and he exclaimed, _"Ha! Now this is a beauty!"_ Ridley was suspended in the air, his transformation into Meta Ridley having been completed, and Mad Jack sent him back down into the reject bin, muttering to himself, _"Where's the next test subject?"_

Ridley woke up on a platform, where he saw a freed Donkey Kong crush a Choomba into coal dust with a single punch. R.O.B. walked up to Ridley and said, "Welcome, Geoform 187. You look... awfully metallic today."

Ridley balked upon hearing that last part, and Diddy Kong walked up to him with a sign that had a sheet of metal taped onto it, allowing it to act as a makeshift mirror. Ridley snatched the sign from the young Kong, and looked at himself in horror. After all the years of being staunchly against re-cyberization, here he was, standing as Meta Ridley once again. Screeching in rage, Ridley screamed, _"I'M GOING TO KILL THAT FUCKING PUPPET!"_ In a blind fury, he began hitting the ceiling, causing several tiles to collapse, and once he had hit it enough times, the part where Mad Jack was on collapsed, revealing the puppet with a bloody Kleever in his hands.

Snarling, Mad Jack grinned and sadistically chuckled, _"I'm going to enjoy killing all of you..."_ Ridley roared in challenge, his sadism having left him, now being replaced by pure rage and bestial instincts. Mad Jack raised Kleever in challenge, before shooting a laser at Mario, who reflected it into a wall with his Cape. Rearing back, the puppet threw Kleever at Link with full force, but Zelda stepped in front of the Hylian Champion and reflected it back with Nayru's Love. Mad Jack simply retreated back into his box before letting out a crazed laugh and hopping to where the Mii Swordfighter was in an attempt to crush him. Donkey Kong slid under the box, and upon yelling at the Mii to run, he began holding up the box. As Mad Jack stared in alarm, Donkey Kong threw the box towards Charizard, who torched Jack with a mighty Fire Blast.

Falling onto a blue platform, Mad Jack, though some of his paint was seared off, glared at the Smashers threateningly, but before he could do anything, Ridley, with a bloodthirsty smirk, pressed a blue switch on the wall, electrocuting the puppet. R.O.B. then unloaded a full blast of fire from his thrusters onto Mad Jack, while Ryu shot a Shinku Hadoken which sucked him in. Mad Jack quickly turned himself invisible and grabbed Banjo and Kazooie out of the air before shooting a fireball at point-blank range. Diddy ran over to where the duo was going to land, and Donkey Kong baited out a laser, after which Mad Jack took the opportunity to taunt the Smashers by sticking his tongue out. That was all the distraction DK needed, as he rolled right through Mad Jack's box in an attempt to disable the puppet.

Once he was inside, Donkey Kong found something that resembled part of a sun, which he quickly pocketed because it was so different from everything else inside. Seeing Mad Jack's spring, he pulled at it, causing the puppet up above to yell in pain before jumping up into the air to flush out Donkey Kong. Once he did, Jack grabbed him and threw him right at R.O.B. and Mario, causing the two to scatter like bowling pins.

With a creepy smile on his face, Mad Jack ominously lumbered towards the three of them, dead set on his plan of murder...

* * *

 **Sorry for the wait!**

 **Mad Jack is basically Josef Mengele if he was a Kremling cyborg jack-in-the-box. And yes, I had to change Snake's timeline to him having lived three years after his due date of death.**

 **WolfSaven, does this chapter answer your question?**

 **As for the guest (you gonna be getting an account one of these days? XD), I'll give you that. It is a _Fire Emblem_ character.**

 **Hopefully I can get Chapter 28 out sometime this month...**

 **Reviews are always appreciated!**


	28. Clash Against the Titans

**Um... check out _Golden Sun: The Lunar Calamity_ if you haven't already!**

 **Product placement aside, I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. The Dark Realm might be shorter, it may also be longer depending on how I pace the three main dungeons of the area in addition to the ones I put in.**

 _ **"Let me get this straight. Your sword has a gun on it?"**_

* * *

Matthew docked the ship in the most translucent spot of blood he could find, ignoring the sickly crunch the anchor made when it touched the floor. Cloud's face was scrunched up in disgust as he remarked, "Ugh, not even Sephiroth's escape from Shinra was this bloody..."

Snake, in the middle of testing his landmines, threw a grenade onto one, causing both the claymore and the grenade to explode, and he muttered to himself, "Well, these'll come in handy for whatever's inside that portal..."

Wolf, in the middle of talking with Fox, asked, "You're not serious, are you, McCloud? Riding on _my_ Wolfen?"

"Hey, it's not like we're sharing the cockpit... besides, I can cover your firing blindspots!"

"What are you going to use, that pistol?"

Fox pulled out a cannon he had found in the lower deck of the ship, and patted it, saying, "I think this bad boy will suffice!"

Wolf entered some coordinates, and his Wolfen flew over to where he and Fox were. Entering the cockpit, Wolf gestured for Fox to get on the ship, and the Wolfen began hovering slightly above ground. Opening his cockpit, Wolf asked the others, "You ready? Better not disappoint!"

Everyone on ground stepped through the portal, and the Wolfen flew into the portal, throwing caution to the wind.

Joker's first impression of the place was that it was... weird. Even the Metaverse, while crazy at times, at least had a foundation in reality. Thinking to himself, he mused, _"What the heck is this place?"_

Everyone else's faces echoed that sentiment, but Snake set his frequency to 141.12 and dialed, the sound of the Codec ringing filling his ear. After four rings, Otacon's voice answered, greeting his friend. Smiling, Snake then asked, "Hal, what is this place?"

 _"Snake, this is the Mysterious Dimension."_

"Couldn't have gotten a better name?"

 _"Well... it's a perfect description of what this place is. In here, the forces of darkness are great in power... with one glaring exception. It also seems that... ooh! There are four Smasher signatures in here!"_

"Four?!"

 _"Yep! But... that's all I can gather from them. As for the Mysterious Dimension itself, it's a twisted eldritch location that seems to break the laws of physics. See those sparkling things on the right?"_

"Yeah?"

 _"Those make you defy gravity. There's also these weird little mushrooms that seem to root themselves in your brain and mess up your sense of direction in here. Snake? Good luck."_

"Thanks, Otacon." The Codec ended, and Snake looked ahead, where he saw a massive tower that seemed to resemble effigies of religious importance. Looking at Joker, he asked, "Hey, kid, those statues seem familiar?"

"You mean from _The Divine Comedy_? Because that's what I'm seeing."

King Dedede laughed, and boasted, "What's this nonsense all about? Surely it's not going to be-"

A ferocious roar sounded across the dimension, and Dedede's grip on his hammer tightened. Greninja assumed a combat stance, and everyone else followed suit, while up in the sky, Fox readied his cannon. From out of a dark vortex, a massive winged beast that looked like a gruesome combination of man, beast, and machine emerged, holding a sword that was longer than a street lamp. Matthew blanched, as the beast was an all too familiar sight to him, and before everyone could start attacking, he yelled, _"WAIT!"_ Everyone stopped what they were doing and gave the Adept questioning stares. His hands raised in a placating gesture, Matthew slowly stepped towards the Chaos Chimera, and everyone exchanged bewildered looks, wondering if the Adept had lost his mind. Matthew, in a quiet voice, said, "Volechek... it's me, Matthew."

The beast squinted, staring at Matthew curiously. Matthew continued, "You don't have to do this, you know... just resist the urges. You might be able to see Sveta soon."

Even though the Chaos Chimera's primary component was the Belinskian queen's late brother, the two Tuaparang commanders that were also fused to the monstrosity overrode Volechek's control over them, and struck Matthew with a massive punch before using Retribution, the attack instantly downing Little Mac. Cloud used Thundaga, but the Chaos Chimera put up a Shadow Shield before throwing a Mana Grenade at the group. Upon exploding, the grenade released a surge of anti-Mana, draining Cloud, Joker, and Matthew of some of their power.

Snake, in the midst of the chaos, activated his Octocamo and redialed his Codec, and after a bit, Otacon came on the line with an urgent, _"Snake, that's the Chaos Chimera!"_

"The Chaos Chimera?"

 _"It's a darkness-imbued fusion of the former king of Belinsk, Volechek, along with Blados and Chalis of the Tuaparang!"_

"You're losing me, Hal, what am I supposed to do about this thing?!"

 _"It's weak to anything related to wind or electricity, so use those!"_

"Otacon, you know how much I hate knife-fighting..."

 _"But you still have that stun knife, don't you?"_

"Guess you're right. Got any intel on what this thing can do?"

 _"Well, it has many darkness-related attacks. Shadow Clash, Darksol Gasp, Chaos Upheaval, and Retribution are among them."_

"Got it."

 _"Good luck, Snake."_ The Codec ended, and Snake reluctantly pulled out his stun knife, while to his left, Joker summoned Odin, but didn't have enough energy to use Thunder Reign. Matthew used his three restorative Djinn, and Ether, Wisp, and Flare came out, doing their best to restore Matthew, Joker, and Cloud's magic power.

Once the three had done their jobs, Matthew, with a cry of, _"Megaera!"_ summoned the goddess of vengeance, who used her blades to create an explosion, which the Chaos Chimera was caught in the center of. Once her job was done, Megaera vanished with a small chuckle, and Matthew followed up with a devastating Megiddo unleash.

Just as the beast had regained its bearings, Fox blasted it in the back with a shot from the energy cannon he was holding, and roaring in pain, the Chaos Chimera used Shadow Clash, causing numerous streams of dark energy to rain down from the sky. Wolf managed to skillfully pilot his way through the maelstrom of darkness, and Fox took another potshot at the Chimera, but a Darksol Gasp stopped the blast in its tracks, allowing it to throw its sword at the Wolfen, but Wolf dived low and transformed the ship into Hunter mode. With a metallic howl, the Hunter Wolfen bounded towards the Chaos Chimera, with Fox simultaneously charging another shot. Its sword arcing back into one of its four hands, the beast then used Chaos Upheaval, flying high into the air before diving onto where the Hunter Wolfen would be while imbued with dark energy.

Fox, in the middle of charging, looked up and gawked upon seeing the Chaos Chimera diving down towards them. Urgently tapping the cockpit, he yelled to Wolf, "GO RIGHT!" Wolf did so, and Fox fired just as they narrowly dodged the Chaos Upheaval. Frustrated, the Chaos Chimera decided to unleash its trump card: a Spirit Orb. Directing the Spirit Orb towards the robotic wolf bounding towards it, the Chaos Chimera let loose, and the Spirit Orb flew through the cockpit and sucked in Wolf, causing the Wolfen to come to a stop without its pilot in the cockpit. Fox, after knocking on the cockpit to see if anything was wrong, he looked up just in time to see the beast lift up its sword for a massive Retribution...

* * *

Wolf landed on some black-and-red platform, and looking down, he saw a subway train speed above the abyss. Looking back, he saw a small gray Incineroar and a Pikachu in a wrestler's outfit staring at him. The Incineroar flashed a rude gesture, while Pikachu's cheeks began to spark threateningly. Wolf pulled out his blaster in challenge and gestured towards them, telling them to bring it.

Pikachu Libre lunged at Wolf, who kicked her right in the face before turning his attention to the Incineroar. The Heel Pokémon snarled before lunging at Wolf with a running knee strike, which hit true, while off to the side, Pikachu boasted, _"Take that, you fiend!"_ Wolf rolled his eyes before shooting Pikachu with the Shroob Blaster he had stolen from their castle, only to puke another cluster of purple spores, which, much to his disgust, began moving on their own. Quickly stamping it out, Wolf looked up to see Incineroar charging right at him. The Heel Pokémon hit Wolf with a lariat that had the force of a runaway vehicle, before holding out a Lightning Bolt, which shrunk Wolf.

Wolf looked around him, and saw that everything looked _massive_. Incineroar in particular appeared to be the size of a small building, and Wolf narrowly avoided a humongous stomp from the Heel Pokémon. After roughly thirty seconds of playing keep-away, Wolf returned to his normal size, and when he saw Incineroar charging him with a Gust Bellows in hand, Wolf, in a sleight of hand, swiped the magic jar from Incineroar's hands and tauntingly waved before sending him off into the abyss with a strong blast of wind. Wolf then turned around to face Pikachu, who blanched, as she realized that her support was gone.

Before either fighter could do anything, however, a strong gust of wind knocked them both to the floor, sending the Gust Bellows into the void below, and the two of them held on to whatever they could for dear life. Once the wind finally let up, Wolf pounced on Pikachu before wailing on her with a flurry of steel-tipped kicks. Once Pikachu Libre could barely stand, Wolf ominously loomed over her before snidely flicking his snout and snorting, "You weren't worth the trouble," before slashing at the ground in front of him, sending Pikachu off into the distance. Once she had disappeared from Wolf's line of sight, a Spirit Orb containing a black cat with a yellow scarf floated in front of him, and Wolf was returned to the Mysterious Dimension via a dark cloud.

* * *

Upon arriving back, the first thing Wolf noticed was that Fox was no longer on his Wolfen. Looking to his left, he saw why.

Fox had been flung into a stalagmite made of Malice, and the icky substance was slowly draining away at his health, while in front of him, the Chaos Chimera, having paralyzed everyone with spark shurikens, stomped on Fox's cannon, breaking the weapon in two. Menacingly floating towards Fox, the Chimera raised its sword, intending on running Fox through, but Wolf reentered his ship and commandeered his Wolfen to pounce on the back of the Chimera, distracting it long enough for Matthew's paralysis to wear off, allowing him to use Ivy to temporarily turn the Chaos Chimera to stone. Fox managed to crawl his way out of the Malice, and switching to the Protector class, Matthew used Restore on everyone, freeing them from the paralysis. Matthew then switched to the Master class and unleashed a hellacious Thunderhead on the petrified body of the Chimera, and once it turned back to normal, Cloud yelled, " _ODIN! Zantetsuken!_ "

The Norse god materialized on his horse, Sleipnir, and used his Zantetsuken, slashing the Chaos Chimera down the middle before vanishing. After a moment of silence, the monstrous fusion between man, beast, and machine slowly began sliding apart before dissolving into a dark dust. Out of the cloud came a Spirit Orb which depicted the Chaos Chimera in its beastly glory, and Matthew silently picked it up and put it in Snake's Spirit Pouch before whispering to himself, "I'm sorry, Volechek..."

Joker had picked up on what he said, and asked, "Who's this Volechek guy?"

"Former king of the city my girlfriend rules over. He was her older brother." Before Matthew could continue, however, he saw a part of the key he needed and exclaimed, "One down, twelve to go! I wonder how Dad's doing..."

* * *

Isaac desperately used Revive to try and bring Yoshi back from the brink, but the dinosaur was still unresponsive. Geno fired a burst of stars to take Dullahan's focus off of the Adept, while Mr. Game & Watch absorbed most of Pikachu's Electric-typed attacks to have a nuke ready just in case. Dullahan laughed, and after charging up his sword once more, swung it at where Geno was standing, only for his blade to suddenly come to a stop. Confused, he looked down to see Wario holding his sword, and he pulled out Goodstyle and traced a lightning bolt, turning him into Sparky Wario. Isaac temporarily stopped casting Revive, and exclaimed, "Wh-what?! He just caught that Fulminous Edge like it was nothing! How does that even work?"

Wario effortlessly shoved the sword off his head once he had absorbed all the electricity, and pointed his finger at Dullahan, zapping the death fairy with a bolt of lightning. When the assault stopped, the armor was smoking profusely, and Dullahan himself had been forced down to one knee. It was at that moment where the humongous missile Daedalus had fired earlier came crashing down, bathing the room in fire and shards of metal. When the last of the dust and debris settled, only Pikachu and Isaac were left unscathed, due to the former having used Protect at the last second and the latter using Flash on himself and Yoshi. Isaac frantically continued trying to heal the dinosaur with every last healing Psynergy spell and Djinn he had on hand, and much to his relief, Yoshi weakly stirred.

Wario, having been turned to ash by the combined firestorm and shrapnel blast, reconstituted himself and grabbed a torch from the wall. Laughing maniacally, he used his Waft on the torch, creating a noxious makeshift flamethrower that had Pikachu and Isaac staring in disgust. It did prove to be effective on Dullahan, however, as he stumbled, clearly taken aback by the unexpectedness of the attack. Isaac, making sure that Yoshi was safe, grit his teeth and used Thunderhead, zapping the fairy with a bolt of white-hot lightning. Dullahan rasped, _"You have done well, Adept... but you shall meet your inevitable fate soon enough. CHARON!"_

With a flourish, Dullahan summoned the reaper, and one swing of his scythe downed Wario, Pac-Man, and Geno. Charon vanished, and Isaac found himself with a half-conscious dinosaur, a bounty hunter, an electric mouse, and a flat man as his remaining allies. Looking at Dullahan, Isaac muttered, "You've got to be kidding me..."

* * *

Mad Jack lumbered towards the Smashers and shot another laser at Mario before grabbing Donkey Kong in an attempt to choke the life out of the Kong, as despite him having grown beyond his programming, he still harbored an intense hatred for the primate clan.

Ridley threw Diddy at the puppet while snarling at Banjo to distract it while he and Charizard did the heavy lifting. Meanwhile, Mad Jack cackled dementedly and drawled, _"Your end draws near... perhaps you'll look better as one of my many cyborgs, but if you don't... then I'll just tear you apart and reconstruct you from the ground up to suit my vision!"_

A sudden stab through his laser-firing eye from Ridley forced him to drop the Kong, and Banjo, with the help of Diddy Kong and Kazooie, began trying to cram the oversized puppet back into his box. Once they did, Link cut open a small hole in the box to put in both of his Remote Bombs, and Toon Link sealed the lid shut with a rope, which was fastened by Ryu. Charizard, after a bit of effort lifted up the box and used Seismic Toss, throwing Jack's box onto one of the glowing platforms, and Link detonated both of his bombs. Ridley, malice apparent in his eyes, flew over to where the switch for the electricity was, and once Mad Jack popped out of his box, Ridley yanked the lever down, electrocuting a badly damaged Jack to the point where he looked like he was about to slump over and die. Ridley then flew over to him, having charged a Plasma Scream in his mouth the whole time. Realizing that he had finally met his end, Mad Jack simply laughed and croaked out, _"See you in hell..."_ before Ridley let loose with the beam, reducing Mad Jack to spare parts.

Ridley snorted and said, "Good riddance," before looking around at the damage done by the hellacious battle he had gone through. Blood—his blood—stained the ceiling and the walls, a cruel reminder of the 'operation' that turned him back into Meta Ridley. Scorch marks were present all over the place, and the less said about everyone else, the better. The two Kongs in particular looked like they had been in a massive wreck, and Ridley hissed, "So. Any luck with the key?"

Donkey Kong held out the piece of the sun he had found in Mad Jack, before signing, "Is this important?"

"Star Spirits above, this is-a it!" Mario ran over to Donkey Kong and joyously nodded in confirmation, but his expression faltered somewhat as he asked, "Now... how are-a we going to get out of-a here?"

Red turned to his Charizard, and said, "Focus Blast." Charizard obliged, firing an orb of blue energy that, after wildly flying around the room, hit the ceiling of the reject bin, creating a hole for them to get out through.

Ridley grabbed Ryu, the Mii Swordfighter, R.O.B., and Falco in his claws and talons, before wrapping his tail around Sonic and taking flight. Zelda used Farore's Wind to warp herself out of there, and Banjo and Diddy Kong managed to lift Donkey Kong in a team effort, and the duo exchanged a high-five once they accomplished the task. Looking down, Banjo yelled, "Kazooie and I are comin' down there, Mario!" Banjo and R.O.B. went down, the former retrieving both Mario and Link, while R.O.B. airlifted the Inklings and Toon Link out of the reject bin.

Once everyone had gotten out, Mario asked, "So... why don't-a we take five, huh?" Everyone nodded in agreement, due to them all needing time to get over that nightmarish ordeal.

* * *

Simon dealt the finishing blow to Medusa, and she let out a screech of despair as she turned to stone once more. Villager began using a rag to clean off the snake blood that had gotten onto his axe, while Ness went to a nearby bookshelf and pulled out a red-and-gold book with a Super Mushroom on the front. His curiosity getting the better of him, his fingers had just pushed the cover off of the top page, while behind him, Luigi, having realized what the kid was holding, frantically yelled, "Wait-wait-wait! _DON'T OPEN THAT!_ "

But it was too late, and the Paperverse book violently freed itself from Ness's hands, and two sinister characters sprung from the book, one of them being some sort of purple demon with a crown on their head, and the other being a jester in a purple-and-yellow outfit.

The Shadow Queen let out a sinister laugh before vanishing to the place with the highest concentration of dark power. Dimentio clucked in disapproval upon seeing Luigi pointing the Poltergust G-00 at him, and he said, _"Hmm... I might need a different host for the Chaos Heart."_ Dimentio, like the Shadow Queen, teleported away to find the dark power.

Ness, thoroughly confused by what he had seen, asked, "Guys? What just happened?"

To his left, Luigi seemed to be having a minor panic attack, while Bowser was staring at his arms in contemplation, thinking to himself, _"Can I really flail my arms like that?"_ Turning to Ness, he bellowed, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO?!" Rosalina could only stare in confusion, and it wasn't until Peach spoke up that order was restored among everyone else in the group, whose reactions boiled down to either 'panic' or 'stare.'

Peach first glared at Bowser, admonishing the Koopa King with, "Was that really necessary?" Bowser shrugged, and Peach continued, "See, after Mario restored the Star Power to my castle, we commissioned a series of fantastic adventures to any author in the Mushroom Kingdom who was willing to write them. It just so happened that the author that accepted was S.M. Toadcraft." Luigi and Bowser both shuddered, the both of them having read at least one of Toadcraft's horror stories, and Peach continued, "Toadcraft came up with a novel—sorry—idea. He would release the series of books individually, and after every fifth installment, he would compile the five stories he had written into one large book. The first three works in the series, which he had dubbed _Paper Mario_ , are regarded as some of his greatest works, the second one especially. However, his second and third books in the _Paper Mario_ series were also criticized as too mature, the third one moreso than the second, so he changed the tone drastically for the fourth book. But, the resulting backlash to that forced him to try and find an appealing middle ground for the fifth book."

Simon asked, "Pardon me, Princess, but why is this important?"

Peach's face became serious, as she answered, "The two that escaped from the _Paper Mario_ book over there are from the second and third books, and are among some of the most vile and sickening villains in Mushroom Kingdom literature, and I've seen firsthand that whatever escapes that book is just as dangerous as it is in it." Turning to Ness, she sweetly said, "Ness, I'm sure what you did was an accident, but can you please burn the book now?"

A guilty expression was present on Ness' face as he replied, "Okay..." Putting the book on the floor, he used PK Fire to burn it to ashes.

* * *

 _"Cineroar!"_

Matthew barely managed to block an Iron Head from Incineroar, who had suddenly ambushed the group while they were recovering from the Chaos Chimera's attack, and he retaliated with a slash from the Sol Blade. To his left, Snake shot a tranquilizer dart at the Heel Pokémon, but he kept using Revenge to steadily gain more power from every attack that touched him. Incineroar then punched the ground, and the ensuing Earthquake, powered by Revenge, caught everyone off balance. As everyone was struggling to find footing, Incineroar lunged at the biggest threat, Snake, and chokeslammed him before unleashing a flurry of rapid stomps on the mercenary's chest.

Picking up the broken pieces of Fox's cannon, Incineroar used Fling to keep the others at bay. Before he could do a knee drop on Snake, however, a slash from Cloud forced him to focus on the new threat, but Pit kept distracting him with arrows while Cloud kept whittling away at him with Blizzara because summoning Odin had drained a lot of his MP.

Incineroar began slowing down, and Snake passed a C4 to Joker, groaning out, "Stick it on Tiger Mask over there..." Joker did so, and Snake, with a smirk on his face, grunted, "THERE!" The explosion sent Incineroar flying high into the sky, and when he came back down, he landed on the ground with such force that he created an Incineroar-shaped crater in the ground.

Captain Falcon removed his helmet and looked at the cracked visor before saying, "I think this can last a bit longer."

Incineroar, his eyes having returned to their usual yellow and green, crawled out of the crater he had made, and looked around, asking, _"Hey, what happened?"_

Snake grunted, "We've got a mess to clean up. You in?"

 _"Oh, hell yeah!"_

Greninja croaked, _"But how are we supposed to navigate this place? It doesn't obey the laws of physics at all!"_

Little Mac rolled his eyes, saying, "This coming from the ninja frog that can teleport."

Dr. Mario quickly said, "Okay, less talking, more walking, we've got to find three more of our friends."

* * *

Isaac used Iris, and while the divine goddess of rainbows didn't seem to do much against Dullahan, everyone that had been downed was revived, and those who were heavily battered were healed back up to full strength. Looking behind him, Isaac thought, _"And it only took the last of my Mercury and Mars Djinn to do it..."_ Samus fired a swarm of missiles, Pikachu used Volt Tackle, and Pac-Man threw a key at Dullahan, resulting in a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared, however, Dullahan appeared to be unharmed by the assault.

Dullahan said nothing, and instead scraped his sword through his shield once more, readying another Fulminous Edge. Wario, rummaging through his overalls, pulled out one of the many Orihalcons, and Dullahan saw that the treasure hunter was holding what appeared to be a bar of gold.

Everyone else was waiting for the Fulminous Edge to come... but it never did, as Dullahan had simply put up his shield. Taking advantage of that, Isaac summoned Thor, and the Norse god unleashed a hellacious assault of righteous lightning, which finally proved to be enough to take down Dullahan, who collapsed to one knee before breaking apart.

Isaac sifted his way through the armor and picked up the part of the key that the death fairy had been guarding, and breathing a sigh of relief, he used Retreat, bringing the eight of them to the outside of the Anemos Sanctum.

* * *

 **Hoo boy, this was a doozy. I really hope you all enjoyed my interpretation of Mad Jack, because he was by far my favorite character to write. As for how I decided to include _Paper Mario_ material, I'm kinda iffy on how it was executed, but I hope it'll turn out fine. And in case you're wondering why Dullahan was beaten that way, in actual Irish mythology, the Dullahan is afraid of gold.**

 **Judging by recent reviews, it seems that I'm not the only one with the " _Fire Emblem_ Problem."**

 **FanficLovingPerson, I'll take you up on your offer.**

 **Queenstarling, thanks for the suggestion. It'll take effect starting now.**

 **Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Bowser, Villager, Rosalina, Simon**

 **Group 2 (Anemos Inner Sanctum): Isaac, Yoshi, Samus, Pikachu, Mr. Game & Watch, Wario, Geno, Pac-Man**

 **Group 3 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar**

 **Group 4 (Frantic Factory/Smithy's Keep): Mario, Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Mii Swordfighter, Red (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), Falco, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, R.O.B.**

 **Group 5 (Puppet Fighters with known whereabouts): King K. Rool**

 **Remember, reviews/concrit are always welcome!**

 **See you guys in Chapter 29!**


	29. A Tale of Three Snakes

**So, to clear up a misconception from last chapter: Medusa from _Castlevania_ is an entirely separate entity from the Medusa from _Kid Icarus_ (and this one'll still be a boss). Apologies for any confusion that may have been caused.**

 **Constructive criticism is welcome, dear readers, so don't be afraid to leave a review!**

 _ **"Truce for now, Hunter?"**_

 _ **"...Truce."**_

* * *

Ridley looked at the makeshift mirror Diddy Kong had made for him, his hands trembling with rage with every detail about his appearance that he uncovered. Smashing the sign and crumpling the sheet of metal, he screeched in anger before storming off. Charizard, seeing Ridley walk away, turned to Red and asked if he could go to where Ridley was, and his trainer nodded.

Ridley remained crouched in a corner of the ceiling, watching the part of the factory he was in like a skeletal gargoyle, and upon seeing something walk in, he leapt down from his spot and roared in challenge, only to see that it was Charizard. Looking at the dragon, he asked, "What do you want?!"

 _"What? I'm not allowed to try and see how a fellow Smasher's holding up?"_

Ridley, his voice dripping with sarcasm, said, "Oh, I'm holding up _just fine_ , thank you very much. Because having your jaw, wings, and tail torn off is SUCH A PLEASANT TIME!" Due to him stepping out of the shadows as he said it, Charizard managed to get a good look at the numerous changes Ridley had undergone.

Hissing in sympathy, Charizard said, _"Yeesh, that's gotta sting..."_

"Yeah, no kidding."

 _"Why is it such a big deal for you, though?"_

"Because I did _not_ want the surgery again! Do you think it's _fun_ being torn apart and rebuilt against your own will?" When Charizard didn't answer, Ridley snarled, "Didn't think so."

With that, Ridley stalked back to the others, and Charizard reluctantly followed.

Mario was trying to call his cousin, but due to Stefano being in another location entirely, he got yet another 'This Number is Unavailable' message, and almost threw the phone in frustration, but an idea went off in his head, and he ran off into the deeper areas of the factory to see if he could get anything to strengthen the signal. Banjo, meanwhile, was putting the finishing touches on a vehicle, and once he had done so, he said, "So, Kazooie... how's it holdin' up?"

The car then spontaneously fell apart, and Kazooie snarked, "Looking real polished, Banjo."

* * *

Matthew swung his Tisiphone Edge in an arc around him, before pulling out the Masamune and unleashing Rising Dragon on his target.

Joker deactivated Rebel's Guard, and behind him, a manifestation of Arsene materialized. Matthew then put his blades away, and leaned on his Sol Blade, which was planted in the ground, before commenting, "Hm. You can counter whatever I throw at you without a scratch?"

"Most, if not all of the damage gets absorbed whenever I do this, for some reason..." Matthew helplessly shrugged before pulling his Sol Blade out of the ground and shaking Joker's hand, silently thanking him for the sparring round.

 _"Wait, so lemme get this straight... you're a Water-type, yet you can learn Gunk Shot."_

 _"That would be correct, yes. Besides, Octillery, Toucannon, and Infernape are capable of learning the move as well."_

 _"Noted. I'll just tag in Decidueye whenever I'm going against one of those in a match."_ Incineroar laughed at his own joke, before turning to Greninja and asking, _"So, when I was in Akala, I kept hearin' rumors about some Greninja that could change form... you know anything about that?"_

Greninja formed a small bubble of water around himself and became Ash-Greninja, replying, _"Does this answer your question?"_

 _"...Yes."_

Snake dialed up Otacon on his Codec, and the scientist came on the line. Snake kicked off the conversation with, "Otacon, what's so special about the blonde kid?"

 _"That's Matthew, Snake. Matthew is the son of Isaac and Jenna, two of the eight Warriors of Vale, and the newest wielder of the Sol Blade."_

"Hm... the fact that he can swing that thing like Ike kinda bothers me... how old is he?"

 _"Just a year older, actually. He's eighteen."_

Snake facepalmed, groaning, "What is it with these teenagers lugging around swords that are as long as they are tall?"

 _"Oh, it's powerful, Snake, but it takes some effort to swing, which can leave him vulnerable if he misses. But that doesn't mean he's a one trick pony-"_

"Yep, I saw the magic he was doing, Hal."

 _"That's Psynergy, Snake."_

"These people always have different names for magic powers, don't they?"

 _"Back on topic, he has plenty of Psynergetic attacks to keep you out of his general vicinity, which makes him excel at keeping an opponent out, but he doesn't really have a quick option to escape an attack string, so if you can get in close, you can probably shut him down."_

Snake chuckled at that, remarking, "This would be a lot more useful in the tournament itself, but thanks for the tips, Hal."

 _"No problem, Snake."_ Otacon then ended the Codec, and Snake, after tightening his bandanna, walked over to one of the sparkling things Otacon had talked about earlier, and after touching it, he began floating in the air.

Dr. Mario stopped checking Wolf for injuries upon seeing Snake float, and he called to the others, "Hey! Get a load of this!" Everyone looked to where Dr. Mario was pointing, and ran over to see Snake walking over the endless Void that was underneath them. Looking back, Snake gestured to a shining cluster of particles, indicating that they needed those to do what he was doing.

Everyone did so, and they followed Snake to another section of land floating above the abyss. Looking up, Popo, holding Nana's hand, nervously said, "Guys, this tree is giving me the creeps..."

Incineroar was about to laugh, but he caught a glimpse of what Popo was talking about, and he immediately shut up. Slowly, everyone turned around to see what Popo and Incineroar were staring at, and they were greeted with a terrifying sight.

A humongous, gnarled tree was planted in front of them, and on its trunk was a face that appeared to be permanently stuck in a furious scream. At the top of the trunk was a blue suit of armor that happened to be trapped in the bark, and most disturbingly, the tree seemed to be _watching_ them. After several moments of horrified silence, the group slowly walked away, and the tree which housed Exdeath continued watching them with an unerring eye. Once they were hiding behind something out of the tree's line of sight, Matthew broke the looming silence with, "What the _fuck_ was that?!"

Little Mac, Popo, and Nana shrugged, while Mega Man appeared to have been scared badly, having reverted to his civilian outfit while hugging his knees. Kirby looked back outside at the tree, which to him, seemed rather scary compared to Whispy, and King Dedede urgently pulled him back before the tree could see him. Incineroar and Greninja appeared to be deep in conversation, while Snake, after thoughtfully scratching his beard, asked, Captain Falcon, "Ever see anything like that in the part of Subspace you went through, Douglas?"

Captain Falcon shook his head, saying, "Not that I know of, unfortunately."

"I think I have an idea on what that thing is."

Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice, and Cloud, his eyes looking rather troubled, explained, "I remember reading records of this as well as other adventures in the Smash Mansion's library whenever I had downtime... the book that featured that tree was a story about adventurers who were tasked with preventing the destruction of four magical crystals which controlled the elements."

Matthew interrupted with, "Let me guess, they were water, fire, earth, and wind, right?"

"That's... correct. How did you know?"

"That's not important." Giving an impatient gesture, Matthew asked, "Why don't you tell us the rest of the story?"

Cloud continued, "The one who was trying to destroy the crystals was Exdeath. That tree over there? That's his true form."

Greninja mumbled, _"Remind me to never get on the bad side of a Trevenant..."_

"Exdeath was used as a storage for evil beings, but eventually, he became evil himself, and sought the power of the Void to destroy everything."

Dr. Mario summarized, "So... he's basically a tree who's oversaturated with evil? Sounds ridiculous." Walking out of their hiding spot, he took a look at where Exdeath was, and noticed something odd. Turning to the others, Dr. Mario asked, "Hey, wasn't there a suit of armor in the tree when we walked by it before?"

A deep, evil laugh rumbled throughout the Mysterious Dimension, and a voice said, _"Foolish mortals... you dare come to my domain, the dimension of the Void, where I am at my most powerful-"_

"Hey, what's that bright light at the top of that-"

 _"SILENCE!"_ Clearing its throat, the voice continued, _"Try as you may, the Void is inevitable... you all will come back to me once your time has inevitably run out."_ As if to emphasize his point, Exdeath materialized in his armored form and held out an hourglass before shattering it, letting the black sand inside flutter to the ground like ashes. Exdeath disappeared, leaving every single Smasher except for Captain Falcon shaken.

Standing up, Falcon said, "We've got a job to do, right?" Everyone nodded, and he said, "Well come on, then!"

Captain Falcon ran off, with everyone tailing behind from a slight distance back.

* * *

Mario, walking through the labyrinthine corridors of the Frantic Factory in an effort to communicate with his cousin, accidentally bumped into something that was huge and metallic. Clutching at his head with his right arm, he looked up to see that Metal Gear REX, that same robot that he had fought all the way back in the World of Light, was sitting out in a large hangar filled with weapons. Looking closer, he gasped in shock upon seeing what looked like a Chaos Emerald inside the robot, and in a panic, he began retracing his steps as best as he could to return to the others.

Inside a room in the vents, Pichu was watching Mario and the other Smashers' every move with an unerring eye, and once she saw that Mario had seen Metal Gear CHAOS, she killed the lights in the factory by frying the power grid. Once the entirety of the Frantic Factory was plunged into darkness, she snatched a pair of night vision goggles and her tracker, now in pursuit of Mario.

Mario, now left in pitch black darkness, pulled out a Bulb Berry that he had kept as a snack for Yoshi, and the golden fruit emitted a luminous glow, restoring some of Mario's visibility. Pressing forward, he continued retracing his steps until he heard something thump in the vents above him. Wildly looking around, he saw nothing, and pressed on.

As for the other Smashers, they had been in a short panic before Link pulled out a Star Fragment, which radiated with a soft, gentle glow. Hearing something move in the vents, he passed the Star Fragment to his cartoon self, and pulled out the Master Sword, which emitted a blue light. Listening for even more movements, he stabbed the Master Sword into the ceiling.

Pichu saw something protrude through the vents, and she frantically began looking for the nearest exit, all while below her, Link continued stabbing the ceiling around the area where he had originally targeted. Much to her relief, she saw that there was one three tiles away. Running over, she used Thunder Punch on the grate, and it clattered on the floor as she jumped down. That had caught the attention of the other Smashers, whose heads whipped around fast, looking for the threat. As Pichu revealed herself, she saw Ridley stare at her for a split second before laughing, saying, "What's this little runt going to do against us, zap herself?"

Taking off her night vision goggles, Pichu's cheeks sparked threateningly before lunging at Charizard with Volt Tackle, and much to everyone's shock, Charizard ended up being flung into a wall. Clearly taken aback by the sheer power of Pichu's attack, he snorted, flames beginning to form in his mouth, and he let loose with a ferocious Inferno, the stream of jet-blue flames flying at Pichu. Pichu ducked the attack, but Ridley lunged in with a terrifying burst of speed and dragged Pichu across the floor before throwing her off into the distance. Walking closer, Ridley looked at the little rat and sneered, "What are you gonna do now, you little pest?!"

The retaliatory Reversal dislocated Ridley's metallic jaw, and, screeching with rage, he threw her at Donkey Kong, who sidestepped and watched her fly right into Charizard with the power of a Skull Bash, taking down the burly fire lizard.

Just as Pichu was about to use Signal Beam, Mario interrupted with a frantic, "Guys!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Mario, who was busy catching his breath and clutching a glowing golden berry in his hands. Panting, Mario gasped out, "There's-a another Metal Gear in here!" That had gotten the attention of Red and Diddy Kong, but Pichu, not having any of it, zapped Mario with Thunder before nearly doubling over from the recoil she had accumulated from her reckless battles. Meggy and Evan both held Splat Bombs at the ready, waiting to see if Pichu would make a move, but Falco, having gotten impatient, simply kicked his Reflector towards Pichu, taking her off her feet.

Banjo ran up, and Kazooie, with one of her wings, lifted up Pichu's eyelids, revealing that her eyes were still black and purple. In a panic, Banjo quickly punched her in the head, and much to his and Kazooie's relief, Pichu's eyes turned back to their normal color.

* * *

"Ugh, I hate it whenever the Poltergust gets clogged..." Dismantling the Poltergust G-00, Luigi pulled out the vacuum bag, which like Gadd's previous Poltergust models, was much larger on the inside that it appeared to be. Shaking it, several spiders scuttled out of the bag, followed by an assortment of bats, Medusa heads, along with a vial of holy water, which he looked at in confusion before tossing it to Simon. As for the treasures he had found, there were several Gold Bones, a handful of precious gemstones, and Daisy's crown.

Doing a double take at the last part, Luigi ran over to Peach to show her his discovery, and the two of them ran back to the exit where they had defeated Medusa. There, they saw that Daisy was by a balcony that overlooked the forest outside of the castle, and sure enough, she was missing her crown. Weirdly though, she was in her gear that she had used for the Striker Cup, causing Luigi and Peach to exchange confused glances—for she had been in her normal dress at the Craggy Outlook—before calling out to her. As she turned around, they saw that her eyes were indeed a deep purple with black sclerae much like King K. Rool from earlier, and with one hand on her hips, Daisy dismissively said, _"Ugh, what are you dweebs doing here?"_

Nervously twiddling his fingers together, Luigi began, "Well... we came to stop-"

Holding up her other hand, Daisy interrupted with, _"That's all I need to hear."_ With a surprising burst of speed, she lunged at Peach with a kick, but Peach sidestepped and attempted to hit her with a frying pan. Luigi, not wanting to hit either Peach or his girlfriend, provided support from a distance by firing a plunger from his Poltergust at Daisy, who swatted it away with a dismissive backhand. Daisy then lunged at Luigi with a knee strike, resulting in him firing a spray of ice at her and getting out of range of her attack. Just as Daisy was about to use her Crystal Smash, she felt the ground beneath her quake, and she looked behind her to see Peach, having tapped into her Rage vibe, surrounded by a fiery aura as she slowly began stepping towards her.

Letting out a low whistle, Daisy remarked, _"Damn, you just don't know when to call it quits, don't ya?"_ She then readied her Crystal Smash and punched the ground, causing several spires of crystal to erupt all around her and Luigi in an effort to keep Peach out, but the Rage vibe had also significantly increased Peach's strength in addition to making her completely invincible, so she ended up smashing through the spires of crystal as if they were made out of glass. However, just as Peach had lifted her trusty frying pan for another attempt at a strike, she ran out of Vibe Energy, and Daisy took advantage of that with a punch to the gut, taking Peach out of the equation.

Luigi was left frantically trying to come up with an idea, and one came in the idea of a lure. Praying that Elvin had worked out the Poltergust's transportation qualities, he unstrapped it from his back, switched the vacuum to the 'blow' function, and laid it on the ground before sitting on it and flicking a small green switch. The Poltergust roared to life, speeding off, and Luigi grabbed Peach while Daisy followed them in hot pursuit.

Villager looked at an oncoming plume of smoke, squinting for better vision, and once he saw that it was Luigi and Peach being chased by someone, he ran to a position that was underneath an arch and planted six Pitfall seeds there before climbing up the arch and placing his bowling ball next to him. Eventually, Luigi, somehow riding on his vacuum cleaner with an unconscious Peach in tow, hopped off it, passed Peach to Rosalina, and immediately jumped backwards, resulting in Daisy barreling past him and into Bowser and Ness before falling into one of Villager's six Pitfall traps. With a smirk on his face, Villager innocently nudged the precariously teetering bowling ball off the arch with his foot, and the ball hit Daisy square in the head, simultaneously unburying her and knocking her out.

Luigi then ran over in concern, taking Daisy with him to Rosalina and a waking Peach, asking, "Don't you have a Life Mushroom on hand?"

Rosalina nodded, taking out the red mushroom and passing it to Daisy, who woke up, exclaiming, "I feel fresher than a DK Island banana!"

Luigi muttered to himself, "Weird analogy..." before grabbing Daisy in a tight embrace and handing her the crown he had found. Daisy then kissed Luigi on the cheek in gratitude, causing him to flush while Peach and Rosalina exchanged amused glances.

Letting go of Luigi, Daisy looked around and muttered, "Geez, this place looks worse than the old Sarasan Embassy building..." Turning to the others, she called out, "Hi, I'm Daisy!" Ness and Villager enthusiastically waved, Simon gave a curt gesture, and Bowser appeared quite apprehensive as he blew out steam from his nostrils, considering that she had once slapped him to Eldstar-knows-where during one of the parties Mario had hosted.

* * *

Mario dusted some ash off of Cappy, who muttered, "What's that mouse's deal?" Mario helplessly shrugged before putting Cappy back on his head and dusting off the rest of his clothes.

Ridley, being no stranger to the whole cyborg gimmick, snapped his jaw back into place before taking a few snaps at the air to test it. Apparently satisfied, he lurked in a dark corner of the corridor, only being visible by his glowing robotic eyes. Pichu, having woken up, went to talk with Red's Squirtle and Ivysaur once the two of them had managed to pull Charizard over to their trainer, who was fishing through his bag for a Max Revive. Pichu, clearing her throat, greeted the two veterans with, _"It's so nice to finally meet you three!"_

Squirtle waved back, and Ivysaur, extending one of her vines, said, _"It's nice to meet you too. Though I would like to ask, how in Arceus' name did you get so strong? I remember hearing that the Pichu in the second tournament was one of the worst Smashers there..."_

Pichu laughed, and said, _"Oh, the original Pichu was my father... he's a Raichu now. A Kantonian Raichu, to be specific. As for how I got so strong..."_ She pulled out a Light Ball, a Life Orb, a Focus Band, and an Expert Belt, finishing with, _"Along with some Super Training. Does that answer your question?"_

Ivysaur, her jaw agape, nodded in a stunned fashion. Next to her, Charizard sat up, groaning, _"Ow... you got me good, I'll give you that."_

Mario, upon seeing Pichu having reverted back to normal, said, "Okay, so what's-a the plan? I know that they-a have a Metal Gear somewhere in here, and since the factory also-a houses the Smithy Gang, we need to-a remain cautious. Got it?" Everyone nodded, and Mario turned to where Ridley was lurking, and he repeated, " _Got it_?"

"Yeah sure, whatever..."

* * *

Wolf, in his Wolfen once more, flew through the skies of the Mysterious Dimension, keeping an eye out for aerial threats, while on the ground, Snake and Captain Falcon were leading the others across a floating road. Dedede, due to being the least physically fit of the bunch, lagged behind in the very back, panting, "Ugh... this whole place is freaky." Passing by a blood-red effigy of Zero, he did a double take upon seeing the gigantic eyeball and snatched Kirby to show him what he had just seen. Kirby, who was holding the Piranha Plant above his head, quickly lowered the pot to block his vision the moment he saw Zero.

Piranha Plant looked at the statue, and, mistaking it for a large statue made of raspberry gelatin, munched it down in one go, and King Dedede carried the both of them off, but the Piranha Plant looked rather queasy after eating the effigy.

Snake led the others onto a mossy path laden with bushes, cautiously walking as to not set off any traps that could've been lying in wait, until he saw something that looked suspiciously inorganic. Motioning for the others to stay back, he took a few steps back as well before carefully rolling a grenade onto the flash of metal he had seen. Both devices exploded, the landmine sending out some bits of shrapnel that Kirby happily ate up. Snake went to the blown up landmine and dusted it off, muttering, "An M18... I haven't seen one of these in a while."

Little Mac, Cloud, Fox, Piranha Plant and Kirby then all got hit by tranquilizer darts, knocking them out, and Snake whipped around, unholstering his SOCOM upon hearing their bodies hit the floor. Hearing something rustle in a nearby bush, he threw a grenade in there, and two men that looked to be the spitting image of one another rolled out of the bush and pointed firearms at Snake. One of them muttered, _"Les Enfants Terribles really did happen, huh?"_ Keeping his M22 trained on Snake, Naked Snake asked, _"Who are you?"_

"I would ask you the same."

 _"I... am Big Boss."_

Snake almost dropped his weapon in shock, saying, "But... you're _dead_! You died almost four years ago! I saw you slowly succumb to FOXDIE!"

 _"FOXDIE?"_

Before Snake could explain, to Big Boss' left, Venom Snake, pointing his robotic hand at Snake, rumbled, _"YOU. You killed me at Outer Heaven. I died in the name of Big Boss, but now... you will face the wrath of Venom Snake!"_

Venom then fired his fist at Captain Falcon while Big Boss fired a rocket from his RPG-7, and the battle had begun.

* * *

Kaptain K. Rool, manning the Flying Krock, looked out of the cockpit, and muttered, _"The Mysterious Dimension..."_ Before he could continue on course, his video screen began flashing the 'urgent alert' warning, and a Kutlass appeared on the screen.

 _"What is it that's so important, Kutlass?!"_

 _"Sire, there appears to be intruders in the Frantic Factory! Smithy's troops are attempting to prevent them from reaching Project CHAOS and Project EXCELSUS, but that's looking less likely by the second! Come back to the Frantic Factory! Come back before-"_ Donkey Kong punched the Kutlass out of the video, and looking at K. Rool on the screen, he and Diddy Kong flashed obscene gestures before Donkey Kong smashed the screen, making the line go dead.

K. Rool, now deeply incensed, corrected course for the Frantic Factory, and began running through ways to catch the Smashers off guard. KAOS wasn't an option, as both Kongs were now too wary, and K. Rool had no spiked banana drinks—ironic, given that he hated the blasted foodstuff anyway—to give them like he had all those years ago in the Northern Kremisphere. The Blast-o-Matic cannon, while now mobilized on his Flying Krock, simply did not have enough energy for even one blast. The Crystal Bananas were out of the question, so that left him with one option: going back to the basics.

Switching back to his King K. Rool persona, K. Rool said to himself, _"I'm coming for you, banana brains..."_ before descending into mad laughter as the Flying Krock flew back to the Frantic Factory.

* * *

 **Can we get a night vision goggles alt for Pichu?**

 **Waluigi and Daisy were characters I always associated with the _Mario_ spinoffs. However, Daisy I associate with the surprising physicality of some of them, like with soccer, basketball, and the stuff from _Mario Sports Mix_ , while Waluigi (if he ever got in) defines the zany, cartoonish, and unpredictable aspect of the spinoffs, like tennis, kart racing, and partying. The _Strikers_ attire was a last second decision to make Daisy more unique.**

 **To the guest reviewer, I can't thank you enough for being a consistent reader. Wario in general is fun to write, especially since I borrow more from _Land_ than _Ware_. The hint in the Mysterious Dimension... let's just say that someone tried to play God, and succeeded. Unfortunately, it's not _Kid Icarus_ Medusa, but she'll show up later, I promise. As for your last question, I at least try to come up with a unique personality quirk and then think of other traits from there.**

 **As for status...**

 **Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Bowser, Villager, Rosalina, Simon, Daisy**

 **Group 2: Isaac, Geno, Samus, Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Mr. Game & Watch**

 **Group 3 (Frantic Factory/Smithy's Keep): Mario, Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Mii Swordfighter, Red, Falco, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, R.O.B., Pichu**

 **Group 4 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar**

 **Group 5 (Puppet Fighters with known whereabouts): King K. Rool**

 **I'll be seeing you for Chapter 30! (man, this story's come a long way from being a one-off idea about the recruitment process)**


	30. Krocking an Unstable Brain

**Hey, we've hit Chapter 30! This is a HUGE milestone for me, because this is the longest I've ever been fully committed to a writing project, and as such, thank you so much for giving this story a chance if you ever came across it, it means the world to me.**

 **Okay... now, I do have an announcement. I'll be doing a Q/A of sorts when the time comes for the finale (maybe... in about 20/30 chapters or so?). Please either PM me or leave a review with your questions, and I'll do my absolute best to answer them when the time arrives.**

 **Also, my output in June will slow across all stories, I'm going on vacation.**

 _ **"Red, remember my question? The time has come for you to make your decision."**_

* * *

Isaac led the others down the alternate path where he and Peach had split, and in front of him was a humongous castle, which was then illuminated by a flash of lightning. Everyone else looked apprehensive at the prospect of going into the castle, but Wario let out a bellicose cackle and said, "Aw, come on, don't you chumps believe in miracles? Of _course_ we're going to get there, especially with-"

Isaac, in a surprisingly harsh tone, snapped, "The last time I heard that word, I was forced to kill my father, so no, I _don't_ believe in miracles." Wario appeared slightly taken aback, and Isaac led the others through the gates of Dracula's Castle. Wario, looking up, saw that there was a balcony up above, and he used Goodstyle to transform into Wicked Wario to fly up there, leaving everyone else on the ground.

Geno exited his body, and now in his true form as a lesser Star Spirit, said to Pac-Man, _"Hey! Could you throw my body up there?"_ Pac-Man nodded, throwing the lifeless puppet up onto the balcony where Wario was, and Geno quickly thanked him before flying up onto the balcony and reentering his body.

Yoshi ran into a set of nearby bushes, and after a bit of a scuffle, he popped out holding a blue Koopa Mask, which then caused him to sprout wings from his back. Swallowing the mask, it went into a separate digestive tract where he kept all of his tools, like his flashlight, and he gestured for Isaac, Pikachu, and Mr. Game & Watch to hop on. As Yoshi took off, Pac-Man and Samus looked at each other briefly, before Pac-Man said, "Eh, we can do it, can't we?" as he jumped up, kicked off the wall, jumped up again, used his Power Pellet to scale a great distance, kicked off the wall once more, and finally used the trampoline Mappy had lent him to reach the others.

Samus took a deep breath, using her Flip Jump and kicking off the wall before using her Boost Kick to snag onto one of the battlements on the balcony. Pulling herself back up, she saw that everyone else was already going, and she ran after them.

* * *

Donkey Kong crushed a miniature Gekko with a meaty slap before catching a machine-made clone of one of the Axem Rangers in his grasp and flinging it over to Red, who commanded Charizard to torch it with Fire Blast. Charizard did so before asking his trainer to send out Squirtle and Ivysaur. Red obliged, and the other two Pokémon hopped onto Charizard's back before raining down elemental destruction onto the various mechas and crocodiles they had seen.

Mario narrowly ducked a stray Flame Burst from Charizard, and behind him, Ridley roared before flying over him and onto Mack, who Mario was currently going against. Upon seeing Ridley brutalize the living knife, Mario quietly slipped away to see if he could get to the door, but two Egg Robos flew in front of him, and one said, _"Stay out. Doctor's orders."_

Mario raised his hammer and muttered to himself, "That-a loon just doesn't stop, does-a he?" Before he could take a swing, Sonic rushed at the Egg Robos before using the Sonic Eagle on one. Mario threw his Ultra Hammer like a boomerang, knocking the other one out of the air, and together, he and Sonic blasted down the door to the hangar where Mario had seen the Metal Gear.

Upon entering the hangar, they saw that it was empty, the Metal Gear having vanished, almost like it was never there in the first place. Mario's jaw hung open, and he exclaimed, "How?!" Everyone else ran into the room, and Charizard, Donkey Kong, and R.O.B forced the door back into its frame to lock what remained of K. Rool's Kremling Krew out. Looking around, they saw that the hangar was empty, and eerily, not one sound came from anything that wasn't one of their group. Before Donkey Kong could sign anything, the floor and walls began rapidly changing, and once they were finished, the Smashers saw that the massive hangar had been turned into some kind of hideout, containing all sorts of trophies, traps, assorted pots and pans, as well as weapons, complete with a boxing ring in the center.

The boxing ring was all that the two Kongs needed to see to confirm that what they had just stumbled in was not good, and Donkey Kong, surprising everyone else, bellowed, "We need to get out of here! _**NOW!**_ " Before anyone could begin to try and tear the door out of the frame once more, King K. Rool crashed through the ceiling, and with a bloodthirsty smirk present on his face, pressed a button on a remote. Several ropes lashed out and managed to catch Diddy Kong, Link, R.O.B., Evan, and Toon Link in their grasp, and with another press, the five Smashers were hoisted up to the ceiling.

Putting on his Kaptain's Kloak, King K. Rool turned into his Kaptain K. Rool alter ego once more, and after snatching his blunderbuss from a compartment, he turned invisible, laughing, _"Your time of reckoning has come, Smashers!"_ Using his blunderbuss as a makeshift flamethrower, he shot white-hot exhaust at Ivysaur, who narrowly dodged before retaliating with Sludge Bomb, but K. Rool used Gut Check to bounce it back towards Ivysaur. Walking towards a lever, he yanked it, and several metal coils sprung out of the wall and onto Ridley, electrocuting him, which, with the recently added cybernetics, hurt _a lot_. Ridley's smoking body collapsed to the floor, out for the count, and Kaptain K. Rool switched to his Baron K. Roolenstein persona, changing into a lab coat and gaining a little helicopter pack on his back. With the use of the Propellerpack, K. Roolenstein began to fly out of everyone's reach, only to be stopped by Banjo, who was holding three Golden Feathers. Activating Wonderwing, he and Kazooie lunged at K. Roolenstein in an attempt to disable the Propellerpack, but the mad scientist simply flew out of their path. Laughing, his celebratory taunt was cut short when he heard something hit his Propellerpack with the force of a steel keg, which was exactly what Donkey Kong had thrown at him. The little jetpack began sparking, forcing K. Roolenstein to shed it and land in the boxing ring, where Ryu and Zelda were waiting.

Assuming his King Krusha K. Rool persona, K. Rool changed into his boxing getup, except this time he had abandoned the cushy boxing gloves in favor of combat wraps with shards of broken glass on them. With a theatrical evil laugh, he punched the Phantom Zelda had sent at him, shattering the armored guardian in one glancing blow. Lunging at Ryu, he threw a fierce cross, which Ryu was barely grazed by. Wiping some blood off his right arm, Ryu hit K. Rool with a Tatsumaki Senpukyaku before hitting him with a flying crescent kick aimed right at his bulging eye. Howling in pain, K. Rool swung his right arm wildly, catching Ryu with a fist reinforced by shards of glass, which sent the World Warrior flying. Clutching at his eye, he switched to his Tutan K. Roolmon persona from the Super Sluggers tournament he had attended, and threw his bat, a jeweled scepter, at Zelda, who sent it back with Nayru's Love. Undaunted, K. Roolmon used Gut Check to bounce it back, and the speed at which the bat was flying broke Nayru's Love, stunning Zelda long enough for K. Roolmon to use his Laser Beam ball throw, throwing a wicked fastball which sent Zelda out of the ring.

Up above, Diddy Kong was concentrating, trying to dislodge the lights with his psychic powers which had first manifested at the Strikers tournament to bring down the Kremling monarch the same way he did back in the day. However, the malfunctioning Propellerpack flew right by him, cutting his and Link's ropes, and Diddy Kong jumped onto one of the lights while Link plummeted to the floor, where K. Rool, having switched back to his default identity of King K. Rool, had just sent Pichu flying into a wall with one meaty punch. As he laughed, the sound of a sword unsheathing made him sigh in annoyance and say, _"What is it with you heroes and never giving up?!"_ Link said nothing, which was a side effect from the training he had received from the Hylian army in his youth, before throwing a Lizal Tri-Boomerang at King K. Rool, who, much to Link's shock, caught it out of the air. With a taunting gesture, K. Rool exclaimed, _"See you later, pretty boy!"_ before throwing the boomerang back at Link. Whirling around, K. Rool saw that he was face-to-face with his old nemesis, Donkey Kong. Turning back into Kaptain K. Rool, he donned the Kaptain's Kloak and grabbed his blunderbuss before adjusting it so that it would only shoot the sense-impairing gases that Klungo, the bumbling scientist from Spiral Mountain, had developed when he was in K. Rool's service. Smirking, K. Rool shot a cloud of red gas at Donkey Kong, forcing him to slow down...

* * *

With a mighty backfist, Bowser broke through a wall, and he was greeted with a room which glowed with an eerie blue light. Looking around in curiosity, he accidentally touched an orb which was on a statue, and the light in the room gradually began growing brighter. Before he could say anything, the Warp Room had taken Bowser right out of Dracula's Castle, much to everyone's surprise. Luigi and Rosalina exchanged bewildered glances, but they then heard a shout of "Hey!"

Turning around, they saw that Isaac and Wario, the latter of whom seemed to have stuffed some precious jewels in his overalls, running up to them, with Geno, Yoshi, Samus, Pikachu, Pac-Man, and Mr. Game & Watch running closely behind. Luigi, looking at Isaac, asked, "Did you find anything?" Isaac pulled out the piece of the key he had found in the Anemos Sanctum, and Luigi flashed a thumbs-up in approval before continuing, "It's actually pretty convenient that you guys came when you did, we just lost Bowser..." Next to him, Daisy ran over and began enthusiastically greeting the recent arrivals with the exception of Wario, causing Luigi to smile good naturedly. Holding the nozzle of the Poltergust G-00, he gestured for everyone else to follow Simon, and the Smashers continued the treacherous trek through the castle, while unknown to everyone else, the Spirit Pouch began quivering in Rosalina's dress...

* * *

In the Mysterious Dimension, a lone person in armor held a greatsword in his right hand, his left arm hanging limply by his side. The Abyss took control once more, and Knight Artorias was once again reduced to a raging monster who had one purpose: spread the Abyss by any means necessary.

* * *

Meanwhile, Snake was embroiled in a battle with his own progenitor, while Captain Falcon and Pit battled Venom Snake, the former playing the role of the aggressor while Pit kept trying to keep Venom's rocket fist out of the equation by reflecting it over and over. Cloud (who had recovered surprisingly fast from the tranquilizer), Matthew, Joker, and Incineroar began running over to help, but something slammed into Matthew's back, knocking him to the floor, and when he looked up, he saw a particularly attractive woman who had her foot on his back. Bayonetta tauntingly said, _"Ah-ah-ah, not so fast, little one,"_ before unholstering her guns and pointing them at the other three, shouting, _"Let's dance, boys!"_

Snake pulled out the wormhole fulton device and vanished inside a wormhole, leaving Big Boss to cautiously check his surroundings for any sign of an attack, though he was unaware of Greninja using Shadow Sneak behind him. Materializing in a flash, Greninja kicked Big Boss in the back before running over to Venom Snake and giving him a well-placed stomp on the head. With some effort, he transformed into Ash-Greninja, and he flung a particularly sharp Water Shuriken at Venom's arm before lunging at him with a watery katana. To his astonishment, however, Venom Snake ducked the swing, and caught Greninja in a rear naked choke before flinging him at Captain Falcon.

Snake then materialized behind Big Boss, planting a landmine in the ground at his feet while also simultaneously slapping a C4 on his father's back. The landmine detonated, and after recovering, Big Boss then lunged at Snake, knocking the detonator out of his hand, resulting in the fight devolving into a mad scramble to get the detonator, all while Big Boss was trying to claw the C4 off his back.

Incineroar lunged at Bayonetta with a Darkest Lariat, but Bayonetta dodged, activating Witch Time, and she remarked, _"Someone should've declawed this kitty…"_ before launching the Heel Pokémon with a tremendous uppercut courtesy of Madama Butterfly. Matthew, having gotten out from under Bayonetta, raised the Sol Blade in challenge, and the Umbran Witch chuckled, _"Don't make me beg for a fight… that shouldn't be how one treats a lady, you know…"_ She then jumped over a forwards slash from Matthew, kissing the blade as it missed her by mere millimeters. Landing, she lunged at Matthew with a Heel Slide, which launched him up, before following up with a volley of Afterburner Kicks. Before she could finish with her axe kick, Joker jumped off of Matthew's prone body and shot at her, forcing the Umbran Witch to abandon her plan of attack. Looking at Joker, she spitefully blindsided him with a nasty back kick before turning to face Cloud. Looking at the ex-SOLDIER, she dryly snarked, _"Didn't you see what happened to your little twin over there?"_

Cloud rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, _"Once a witch, always a bi-"_ before Bayonetta interrupted him with a quick jab which he barely ducked. Bayonetta then activated her Panther Within, and with a snarl, she lunged at Cloud, managing to land a swipe on his face, which staggered him. Her teeth tinted with the blood of the angels she had feasted on ages ago, Bayonetta darted in to take a bite out of Cloud, but Incineroar, from out of nowhere, intercepted with a nasty Iron Head which sent her reeling.

Incineroar tauntingly wagged a finger, saying, _"Ah-ah-ah, not today!"_ before firing a Flamethrower from his belt as a distraction before giving the slender feline a vicious Throat Chop, rendering her temporarily mute. Laughing in a taunting fashion, Incineroar's celebratory finger point was interrupted with a slash to the face, but, undaunted, he grabbed Bayonetta and performed a German suplex on her, before capping off the beatdown with Outrage, mercilessly hammering on Bayonetta before roughly tossing her aside, right into the path of the C4 that Big Boss had finally torn off his back. Groaning in pain, Bayonetta failed to notice the C4 underneath her as she reverted to her human form, and the C4 brick automatically exploded, sending her flying sky-high. That had momentarily distracted Big Boss, and the one second of lost concentration had sealed his fate, because Snake caught him in a rear naked choke before flinging him into a nearby tree, with a particularly sharp branch impaling him through the stomach. At the same time, a recovered Fox and King Dedede managed to take down Venom Snake thanks to Fox kicking a Gordo right at him. Groaning in pain, Venom then dissolved into a shadowy mist, much like the Chaos Chimera had earlier on.

Snake, meanwhile, cautiously approached a thoroughly beaten Big Boss, who croaked, _"Hah... what did you say about this 'FOXDIE?'"_

"It was... a virus, meant to kill whatever it was programmed to target by identifying their DNA and nanomachines. It killed Ocelot, Big Mama, and... you."

 _"Big Mama?"_

"EVA."

 _"Shame... she was a lovely lady."_ Big Boss then choked on something, and looking at Snake, he mimicked the mannerisms of his late ally, Revolver Ocelot, before doing a finger gun salute, saying, _"You're pretty good..."_ as he dissolved into black mist.

Snake silently gathered the Spirit Orbs the twin snakes had left behind, and tripped over Bayonetta, causing him to curse while stumbling. Looking down, he asked to no one in particular, "Hey, isn't this that witch lady?" Cloud nodded, with a thoroughly beaten Matthew and a bruised Joker accompanying him. Mega Man, meanwhile, was trying to get everyone else who had been knocked out by tranquilizer darts to wake up, with varying degrees of success.

After about half an hour, Bayonetta awoke, only to be greeted with everyone pointing weapons at her. Pulling out a lollipop and sticking it in her mouth, she said, "That isn't how you lads treat ladies, is it?" When they didn't budge, she muttered to herself, "Oh, fucking hell," before, in a very bored tone of voice, saying, "Here's my Fighter Pass..." passing a black-and-purple card which had a 63 on it to Captain Falcon, muttering, "I wish it was that plus six."

Falcon nodded in approval upon looking at the card, and he motioned for everyone to stand down. Once everyone dropped their weapons, Bayonetta asked, "So, enlighten me. What in the name of Inferno even happened out on that cliffside?"

Before anyone could answer, the sound of Wolf's Wolfen landing drew their attention to the leader of Star Wolf, who regarded everyone else with a curt nod before turning to Bayonetta and asking, "Who are you?"

Bayonetta nonchalantly twirled one of her guns in her hand before replying, "I could ask you the same, Balder." Turning to both Captain Falcon and Snake, she gestured for either one of the two to answer her previously asked question.

Snake obliged, saying, "Well, we've got yet another mess on our hands that we need to fix."

"Oh, like the Master Core incident?"

"Master... Core?"

Fox interjected with, "Fourth tournament, long story. We can talk about it later."

* * *

Kaptain K. Rool, having subdued Donkey Kong with a particularly thick blast of red gas, began beating the primate senseless with the blunderbuss before shooting three kannonballs at him point-blank. Tying him up in ropes, he roughly cast him aside before turning towards Mario and dousing him in a shower of purple gas, causing him to blunder about, striking at nothing in particular. Laughing, K. Rool turned towards Falco and shot a stream of blue gas towards him, which never reached Falco due to Sonic accidentally running right into the cloud, freezing him solid. Turning towards Mario, he switched to his King Krusha K. Rool persona once more and was about to give the plumber a nasty punch, but something hard hit him right in the belly, doubling him over and causing him to collapse.

Bowser stood above K. Rool, snorting steam out from his nostrils as he snarled, "Useless waste of air..."

K. Rool reverted to his King K. Rool identity and snatched the blunderbuss off of the floor before shooting a spiked kannonball at Bowser's shell in a desperate attempt at a sneak attack. However, Bowser caught it and hurled it through the window, whirling around to face K. Rool. Casually wrapping his fists in combat tape and shattering a glass object for shards, K. Rool chuckled, _"Ah, so it's the Koopa wuss that's come to face me? Where are your eight useless little devils, huh?"_

Incensed, Bowser said, "They may not be my children, but the Koopalings are as good as family. What happened to your little... Kremling Krew, so to speak? Did you kill another one in a fit of rage?"

 _"Well, yes, actually!"_

Bowser muttered to himself, "What a maniac," as K. Rool used his blunderbuss to vacuum up the various shards of metal and glass lying in the room. Chuckling, he then fired, the swarm of shrapnel heading for Bowser, who simply ducked into his shell before lunging at K. Rool and grabbing him for a Flying Slam. King K. Rool then lunged in for a haymaker, but Bowser dodged and hit him with a punch of his own, causing a crack to form in K. Rool's golden gut. K. Rool's veiny eye narrowed in anger, and he battered Bowser with the blunderbuss before tossing a handful of the coils he had used on Ridley at him in an attempt at electrocuting him, but Bowser instead jumped up, sparing a glance at Diddy Kong before slashing at Evan's ropes, setting him free.

Bowser then pulled out one of his spare Bob-ombs and breathed a small flicker of fire onto the fuse, and in his hand, the Bob-omb said, "It's been an honor serving you, Lord Bowser..." before being chucked at K. Rool by Bowser. King K. Rool vacuumed up the bomb, but much to his surprise, the Bob-omb exploded _inside_ the blunderbuss, causing it to backfire on him and discharge a multitude of gases right in his face, and the ensuing results were catastrophic for the Kremling king.

K. Rool, now rubbing at his eyes, blindly stumbled about, either having absolutely no sense of direction, stopping completely, or moving very slowly, and Bowser and Evan took advantage of that through Bowser hurling K. Rool into the boxing ring. Evan flung a ring of Splat Bombs at K. Rool's feet, drenching him in blue ink once the explosives detonated, and Bowser charged up the megaton punch he had used to defeat his dark doppelgänger years ago in preparation for a flashy finish, as to him, if it was achievable, it was absolutely necessary.

With a triumphant roar, Bowser punched King K. Rool through several walls, and the Kremling monarch slid to a stop, teetering over the edge of the factory due to having made a hole in the outermost wall. Everyone else slowly began reverting to normal, and Bowser, Evan, and Banjo began helping the others who had been incapacitated during the battle. Approaching Mario, who had just turned back to normal, Bowser asked, "Hey... Mario..."

Mario whirled around, defensively holding his hammer, and he blurted out, "What in Eldstar's name are you doing here?!"

Bowser held his hands up defensively, exclaiming, "Hey, hey, hey, slow down! I just want to talk."

Mario relaxed, replying, "Funny that-a you say that... I've been thinking about what happened when we arrived here. Why don't-a we take a seat on... the floor?" Bowser obliged, and he and Mario sat down. Clearing his throat, Mario began with, "Look, I'm-a sorry about what happened over there. It's just... those Shroobs bring back bad memories, and I remembered seeing the Shroobs in your castle, which caused me to-a attack you."

Shifting uncomfortably, Bowser said, "I'm sorry for not telling you guys about the Shroobs earlier. And yeah... those freaks give me the creeps."

After Mario nodded in agreement, an awkward silence passed over them before Mario continued, "We both-a know that you're not going to apologize for insulting Luigi and that-a I won't forgive you for that, why don't-a we just call it a truce for now, and resolve this when it's all over?" Mario held out his hand as a peace offering.

Bowser, after contemplating his options, shook Mario's hand, growling out, "Deal."

Next to them, Ridley rose, his vision somewhat addled due to his right eye occasionally shorting out from the electric shocks he had received, and he stalked over to where King K. Rool was, before turning around to face Mario and Bowser, snarling, "Would the two of you move it?!"

With an annoyed grunt, Bowser got up, and Mario followed.

When he first came to, the first thing that was running through King K. Rool's head was that he felt like he had been stepped on by K. Lumsy. Sitting up, he saw that he was sitting awfully close to an edge, and he scooted forwards in a panic, only to bump into Banjo. As he looked up, Kazooie snarked, "Well, if it isn't King Pinkeye himself..."

K. Rool snapped, "Zip it!" Looking closer at the two, he exclaimed, "Wait, I've seen the two of you before!" As Banjo and Kazooie exchanged confused looks, K. Rool began, "That batty old hag came for Klungo one-"

 _ **"K. ROOOOOOOOOOOOL!"**_

Donkey Kong, running at full speed, blindsided King K. Rool with a Giant Punch, but before he could follow up, Bowser and Mario restrained him, the latter saying, "Wait, DK! Don't-a do this! We need-a to work together!" Relaxing, Donkey Kong shook himself out of Mario and Bowser's grasp, all while giving K. Rool a threatening glare as he rose up.

Spitting out a clod of blood, King K. Rool faced Donkey Kong, saying, "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you're gonna get, you numbskull!"

 _ **"SHUT IT!"**_

Bowser's angry roar startled everyone, and looking at Mario, he gestured for him to explain the situation to King K. Rool. Mario began, "Well... we've got to-a save the world. Do you remember anything about this factory that-a Dharkon thing told you about?"

Something went off in K. Rool's head, and he ran over to a desk in his hideout, pulling out a blueprint of the factory itself. Passing it to Mario, he said, "Take a look at it!"

As Bowser was looking outside, Mario and the others began looking at the map, and they saw that Smithy's room was once again hidden behind a gateway. Bowser then called out, "Hey, Mario, get a look at this!" Mario joined Bowser, and out in the distance, he saw Shroob Castle being patrolled by Shroob saucers. Bowser said, "I want to set things right." Looking at Mario, he continued, "You want to come?"

Mario deliberated over his options before settling with a nod, but he then realized something and asked, "But-a how are we going to get there?"

Behind them, Banjo cleared his throat, saying, "Uh, if a vehicle's what you need, then Kazooie and I can help with that…"

Kazooie popped out of the backpack, nodding before asking, "We know a thing or two about the whole driving gig, don't we, Banjo?"

Nodding as he pulled out a wrench, Banjo asked the two, "So, what'll it be, fellas?"

Bowser tapped his foot on the floor, thinking about the type of vehicle he needed. Going by air was pointless due to their saucers, as he had the Koopa Cruiser from his youth to reinforce that belief, so a land vehicle was absolutely necessary. _"Not a kart, not an ATV, definitely not a bike..."_ Something clicked in Bowser's head, and he pulled out a picture of the Koopa Chase Lv2, saying, "That's the car we need!"

Banjo looked over the photo before nodding, and Kazooie said, "Eh, I don't see why not."

* * *

"And... done!"

Banjo unveiled a perfect recreation of the Koopa Chase Lv2, and a thoroughly impressed Bowser remarked, "Damn, you two are good!" Hopping into the car, he tried to get a feel for it, revving the engine, and he smirked when he heard a loud roar sound. Reaching into the glove compartment, he pulled out a pair of shades, and he gestured for Mario to ride shotgun. Putting on the shades, Bowser stepped on the gas, and he and Mario drove out of the factory and onto a path littered with purple grass and dead trees.

Link took the blueprints that Mario had left behind, and upon looking at them, he called for everyone else to come over to discuss strategy.

* * *

Snake looked in concern at the Piranha Plant, who appeared to be unwell since the fights with Big Boss, throwing up red stuff periodically. Looking at Stefano, he asked, "You sure you don't have any medicine?"

"I'm a doctor, not an herbalist."

Matthew cautiously approached the plant and tried to cast Potent Cure, but the Piranha Plant threw up more red gunk onto Matthew, who wiped the stuff off of his clothes in disgust as Bayonetta commented, "Dreadful..."

All of a sudden, however, the Piranha Plant stopped throwing up, and it began to act normally again. Confused by the sudden change, Snake accidentally dropped the Spirit Pouch, and some Spirit Orbs, specifically those of Otacon, Aerith, and Sveta, popped out of the bag, before flying to the people they were the closest with, those being Snake, Cloud, and Matthew respectively. The three of them glowed with a faint light that subsided just as quickly.

As Cloud began to re-holster his sword, Aerith's voice went off in his head, saying, _"Hey Cloud, nice seeing you again!"_

"Aerith? Is that you?"

 _"Of course it is, silly!"_

Cloud looked close to crying out of relief, and next to him, Snake was deep in conversation with what the others assumed to be Otacon, while Matthew appeared to be sweet-talking no one in particular. Matthew finished with a quick "I love you too," before turning to the others and defensively asking, "What?"

Unknown to everyone, though, a red eyeball appeared on one of the white spots on the Piranha Plant, which glared right at an unsuspecting Kirby...

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed Chapter 30!**

 _ **Metal Gear**_ **lore is kinda confusing, hopefully I got the important stuff right. And Bayonetta... hoo boy. King K. Rool is a very versatile antagonist in his home games, having used a multitude of tools in his various acts of villainy, so he got the boss treatment.**

 **Anyone have good ideas for rhymes? I need some for a Spirit battle or a boss fight involving Banjo in some capacity.**

 **Exdeath is the main antagonist of _Final Fantasy V._ Mewtwo will show up in the Mysterious Dimension later.**

 **As for _the_ guest reviewer, it's great to know that you have an idea for a Subspace Emissary fic. Also, 10 versions?! Holy crap, lol.**

 **Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Villager, Rosalina, Simon, Daisy, Isaac, Geno, Samus, Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Mr. Game & Watch**

 **Group 2 (Frantic Factory/Smithy's Keep): Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Mii Swo** **rdfighter, Red, Falco, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, R.O.B., Pichu, King K. Rool**

 **Group 3 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar, Bayonetta**

 **Group 4 (En route to Shroob Castle): Mario, Bowser**

 **Group 5 (Puppet Fighters with known whereabouts): N/A**

 **Apollo Sanctum Key pieces: 3/13**

 **Feedback is always appreciated!**


	31. Dawn of the Legendary Heroes

**I feel like a fucking psychic. Life is good.**

 **Speaking of psychics, for those who keep asking for Mewtwo, HAVE SOME GODDAMN PATIENCE.**

 _ **"It's showtime!"**_

* * *

Banjo, still in the middle of working on his next vehicle, motioned for Kazooie to pass him a wrench, which she did. After a few more rotations, he took off his welding mask and looked at the finished result; a two-seater plane not unlike the one he had used to race against Diddy, Conker, and some other friends many years ago. The thought striking him, Banjo turned to Diddy and asked, "Say, Diddy, d'you remember what happened with Conker?"

Diddy, remembering the debacle that had occurred in the City of Games' Scarlett Building, held up a sign with his tail that read, "He's dead. Ate his gun. He told me to say 'hi' to ya from him."

Banjo and Kazooie exchanged saddened glances, before the Breegull abruptly changed the subject by gesturing towards the plane and saying, "What good is this thing going to do _inside a factory_ , Banjo?"

In response, Banjo pressed a small green button on the plane, and it transformed into a car. Diddy then walked up and pressed a red button, turning it into a boat. Finally, Diddy held up up a sign which read, "And for convenience…" Banjo pushed a black button, and the vehicle compacted into a red, brown, and yellow cube, which he put into his backpack.

Kazooie shifted uncomfortably inside and accidentally kicked open the flap, causing the damaged remains of Samus' Power Suit, save for the arm cannon, to tumble out onto the floor. Looking at the shattered remains of the armor, which were still covered in soot from Death Mountain's volcano, Kazooie mused, "You think we should fix that?"

"I mean… sure, if we have the time."

"Let's hop to it, then!"

Meanwhile, Link had brought the Luminary over to the others, saying, "We just received another new Smasher!" That had gotten the attention of everyone except Banjo, Diddy Kong, and Kazooie, who were trying to fix Samus' armor.

Eleven, hiding behind Link, peered out from behind him and nervously said, "Hi?" Red was the first to approach him, and he began, "Well, I'm probably not the veteran who should be doing this, but I'm Red, nice to meet you. And your name is…?"

"Eleven, but you can just call me the Luminary."

"I like that. Nice to meet you, Luminary."

Once Red went back to his Pokémon, Eleven turned to Link, and whispered, "He's nice, how come he said that he's not cut for it?"

"Well… Red's had a very, _very_ complicated history with the tournament. The nitty-gritty stuff's kinda personal."

The Luminary nodded in understanding, and the rest of the veterans introduced themselves to him. Ridley was the last one, and while his eyes gave him all sorts of unneeded details about the young man in front of him, he simply growled, "I'm watching you, kid…"

Eleven looked at Link with a quizzical look that asked, "What's that guy's deal?" and Link could only shrug in response.

Banjo stuffed the repaired pieces of the Power Suit back into his backpack, and he, Kazooie, and Diddy walked back to the others, Kazooie exclaiming, "So, what did we miss?"

Eleven looked at the last two, a bear with a bird in a backpack along with a small chimpanzee, and he waved, saying, "I'm the Luminary, it's nice to meet you."

As Diddy and Banjo replied with polite greetings of their own, Kazooie snarked, "Yeah, the Luminary, huh? Well, try using that sword as a flashlight next time, ya lightbulb!"

" _KAZOOIE_! That didn't even make sense!"

* * *

Mario and Bowser had stopped in the middle of the Deadwoods en route to Shroob Castle to take a quick rest, and Mario watched with a half-amused expression as Bowser toyed around with his rebuilt ride. Pressing a light blue button near the glove compartment, Bowser watched in disbelief as the Koopa Chase Lv2 shrunk down to the size of a toy car. Opening the now miniature car's hatch, Bowser saw a red button, and he pressed it, causing the car to grow back to its normal size. Chuckling in amusement, Bowser looked over and asked, "Hey Mario, whaddaya think of that?!"

No response.

"Mario?!"

Pressing the blue button, Bowser kept the Koopa Chase and walked into the forest. Before long, he heard Mario along with the clang of a sword, and he began running towards the source of the noise.

Mario dodged an aggressive lunge from a swordsman with a very, very spiky hairdo, whose eyes indicated that he was under Dharkon's control. Trying again, Erdrick took a stab at Mario, who sidestepped the blow, only to eat a shield right to the face, sending him bouncing across the ground. Flicking his cap up, Mario cast Ultra Flame, and the watered-down version of his Mario Finale raced toward Erdrick, who simply held his shield up to block the attack.

Before Erdrick could use Kacrackle Slash, a roar sounded, and Bowser landed right on top of Erdrick before giving him a hard punch to the back of the head, knocking him out cold. Mario whistled appreciatively at that, before saying, "You're-a sure you didn't kill him?"

"Positive!"

"Well, let's-a just wait for him to-a wake up, I'm-a sure this has got to be important."

After about twenty minutes, Erdrick sat up with a gasp, only to be greeted by a short man with a mustache as well as a big, burly dragon turtle hybrid. Scrambling back, he pointed his sword at the two of them and demanded, "Who the hell are you?!"

Mario pointed his hammer at the swordsman, and said, "A letter. Do-a you have it?"

Erdrick's mind began racing, and after a quick recollection of a letter suddenly fluttering into his hands, said, "Oh, right, that!" Pulling it out, he passed it to Mario and Bowser, the latter pulling out reading glasses, and the two of them began to read Erdrick's letter. Once they were done, Mario pulled out the Fighter Pass, and he saw a blue, orange, and magenta card with a 75 etched into it.

Nodding in approval, Mario passed both the latter and the card back to Erdrick, and he said, "Welcome aboard, Erdrick."

"Actually, Erdrick isn't my real name, it's just a title. My actual name is- wait, what _was_ my name? Never mind, you can just call me Erdrick." Sheathing his sword, he asked, "So what are you two doing?"

Mario and Bowser answered in unison, "Saving the world."

"I can help you with that. Where do we start?" Mario and Bowser pointed to Shroob Castle, and Erdrick's eyes gleamed in excitement as he said, "Let's go, then."

Bowser pulled out the Koopa Chase and pressed the red button, and before long, he, Mario, and Erdrick were en route to Shroob Castle, only to be stopped by Crazy Hand, who said, _"Not so fast!"_

* * *

 _"Snake, I've just picked up a fifth Smasher signature!"_

"Really?! Can you tell me who or what it is?"

 _"Well, it appears to be a person with a sword…"_

"Be more specific, Hal." That got a good laugh out of Fox and Wolf.

Otacon continued, _"Well, they've got a sword, a shield, and some green hair."_

"Green hair, huh? I'll be sure to look for that then, thanks, Otacon."

 _"No problem, Snake."_ Otacon's voice vanished, and Snake turned to the others, saying, "Alright, we gotta keep an eye out for a fifth Smasher, you hear me?" Everyone nodded, and Snake continued, "Good. Next, we- GAH! What in the living hell is that goddamn abomination?"

Everyone turned to where Snake was looking, and reacted similarly. Kirby was keeping the Piranha Plant at bay, and the latter looked grotesque, with blood-red eyeballs on every single one of its white spots and blood dripping from its jaw. The plant then began twitching and convulsing before spitting up an icosahedron, all the eyeballs vanishing from its head before appearing on the shape. The icosahedron in question began rising into the air, before focusing its wrath on the group of people before it.

Miracle Matter then began scanning the others to see who it should copy, before settling on Mega Man. After a bit, it had completely copied every single weapon in Mega Man's Variable Weapons System, and it droned, _**"VARIABLE WEAPONS SYSTEM COPIED…"**_

Mega Man, slack-jawed, looked up and groaned, "Oh, that's not good…"

Miracle Matter then fired Metal Blades at the group, who scrambled to avoid being hit, and Kirby set the Piranha Plant aside before glaring at Miracle Matter with a fury no one had seen before. Miracle Matter then switched to the Thunder Beam and the Thunder Claw, launching three bolts of electricity and a hand made up of blue lightning, and Matthew barely blocked the Thunder Beam before retaliating with Froth Spiral, which was neutralized by a combination of the Leaf Shield and Plant Barrier, but the botanical barrier was vaporized shortly after courtesy of the Atomic Fire.

Mega Man then switched to the Slash Claw and lunged at Miracle Matter, managing to tag one of its twenty eyes. Screeching in pain, it froze Mega Man solid with the Freeze Cracker before trying to melt Snake via an Acid Barrier-augmented tackle. Rolling out of the way, Snake pulled out his grenade launcher and fired a shot, which got dissolved by the barrier. Miracle Matter then fired a glob of acid, which Cloud blocked with Big Guard.

Spinning in place, Miracle Matter switched to the Ballade Cracker, dropping a set of bombs on top of the Smashers. Pit threw up his Orbitars, Cloud used Big Guard, and Matthew used Chasm, while Wolf, not one to sit and take a blow like a punk, ran to his Wolfen so he could take to the skies to chase after Miracle Matter. As the explosives detonated, Snake saw Wolf, and he ran over, hopping onto the Wolfen just as Wolf was taking off.

At the same time, Bayonetta activated Panther Within, and hopped off Wolf's ship, much to his chagrin, before changing to Crow Within to chase Miracle Matter. Wolf, with Snake riding on the left wing, took off, and Snake took a potshot with his grenade launcher now that the Acid Barrier was down. It hit, and Miracle Matter, focusing its rage (and eighteen remaining eyes) on Snake, shot a Wheel Cutter at him, which he dodged by barely floating above it with his Cypher and then landing back on the Wolfen.

Pulling out a particularly large Warp Star, Kirby motioned for Captain Falcon, Matthew, Popo, Nana, Dr. Mario, and Pit to hop on, and the six of them did. After a bit, the Warp Star took off, while below, Mega Man thawed out, pulled out a whole lot of Weapon Tanks, summoned Rush, and activated the Rush Jet.

Joker took aim, and shot his grappling hook onto one of Bayonetta's talons, and, with Greninja latching on, the two of them took off, while King Dedede also began flying, Incineroar holding on to his feet, leaving Little Mac, Fox, and Cloud with the Piranha Plant.

"So… seen any good movies lately?"

Up above, Wolf fired a burst of lasers, taking out a third eyeball, which caused Miracle Matter to retaliate with a Black Hole Bomb, which sucked the Wolfen in along with Snake.

Once inside, a large eyeball, along with a pink technicolor orb and another eyeball with wings and a halo surrounded the two of them, each of them having an angry expression. Zero and 0² unleashed gushing torrents of blood, while Void Termina fired a massive pink laser which sent the two of them flying out of the small pocket dimension that the Black Hole Bomb had made, and back into the Mysterious Dimension, now in freefall. A small rift appeared next to them, and Wolf's ship was spat out. Gesturing furiously, Wolf and Snake directed themselves towards the Wolfen before assuming their previous positions and resuming the chase.

Greninja concentrated for a bit, before using Hydro Pump to shoot himself up to Bayonetta's back, causing her to try and peck him. Greninja made a handful of placating gestures before pointing to Miracle Matter, and Bayonetta began to fly faster.

On their left, Mega Man managed to catch up, before firing a Concrete Shot at Miracle Matter, taking out a fourth eye. Furious, Miracle Matter charged Kirby while using the Top Spin, and Matthew and Captain Falcon took out a fifth and sixth eye respectively. Miracle Matter simply knocked those two off of the Warp Star before using the Rain Flush to damage everyone in its vicinity with acid rain.

Mega Man fired a Scramble Thunder, but missed, and he persuaded Rush to go down to the ground to avoid any damage, while Kirby was pushing the Warp Star to save Matthew and Captain Falcon. Everyone else came in for a landing, and they landed next to Mac, Fox, Cloud, and the Piranha Plant. Miracle Matter crashed down in front of them, its remaining fourteen eyes fixed in a scowl, before readying a Fire Storm.

Cloud, being completely done with the whole thing, simply summoned Knights of the Round, and everyone watched in awe (with Matthew eating a Rathalos meat sandwich) as the legendary knights obliterated Miracle Matter, with King Arthur planting the Excalibur right through it, destroying it for good and leaving a Spirit Orb behind. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, until they heard someone scream, " _MAKE WAY! MAKE WAY!_ " before running headlong into Cloud.

Solo righted himself, before looking down and saying, "My goodness, are you alright? I'm so sorry, I just saw this hellish abomination and-"

Cloud cut him off with, "Envelope. NOW."

Solo began frantically fishing through his knapsack, muttering, "Come on, where is it, where is it…" before pulling out an envelope while triumphantly exclaiming, "Ha!" Passing it to Cloud, the latter opened it, looking through the contents of the letter, before closing the envelope and passing it back to Solo with a nod of approval. Everyone stared at Solo apprehensively, and he nervously said, "Hi?"

Stefano walked up to him and shook his hand, asking, "Tell me, what did you see?"

"Well…" Looking behind Dr. Mario, he swallowed and said, "Those are the ones!"

Dr. Mario turned around and almost screamed in horror, having recognized Toadcraft's own literary creations, Dimentio and the Shadow Queen. The former, a two-dimensional jester decked out in a purple-and-yellow harlequin's outfit, mused, _"So, this one recognizes us, huh? In that case…"_

With a flourish, Dimentio said, _"And now, ladies, gentlemen, creatures of all ages... Prepare for the greatest magic show you'll ever see!"_ Snapping his fingers, the Mysterious Dimension turned into a perfect recreation of Count Bleck's palace, with the two-dimensional aspect remaining. Dr. Mario looked into the reflection of his stethoscope, and saw that much to his surprise, he looked exactly like his cousin's Paper counterpart, except in a doctor's garb. Looking around, he saw that the others had been Paperfied as well, and Dimentio materialized, holding the Chaos Heart above his head, before snapping his fingers and mockingly saying, _"Uh-oh, looks like someone's been Floro'd!"_

Bayonetta began flapping her arms around wildly as a seed sprouted on her head, and she droned, _"Master Dimentio, what do you request of me?"_

 _"Perhaps you should go and prepare for your big entrance, so to speak."_ Bayonetta wordlessly nodded, and she walked to where the Shadow Queen and the Chaos Heart were congregating. Dimentio let out an insane laugh, and snapped his fingers, fusing Bayonetta, the Shadow Queen, and the Chaos Heart into one being. When the dark energy cleared, Dimentio boomed, _"Behold… CHAOS BAYONETTA!"_

Matthew exclaimed, "Seriously, what the fuck?!"

* * *

Luigi grabbed a skeleton with his Poltergust, before slamming it onto a wall, revealing someone fighting a large mummy.

The person in question held a sword with a red blade, and had a small rodent in his pocket, which then jumped out and took a bite through one of the mummy's bandages before returning to a little pouch on the swordsman. Thinking for a bit, an idea went off in his head, and Eight used Fullheal on the mummy, which caused Munchie to give him a perplexed look.

Almost immediately, the mummy began crumbling into dust, leaving only its bandages behind, and Geno clicked one of his gun arms to get the swordsman's attention. Turning around, Eight saw quite an eccentric group of people staring at him in confusion, and he remembered what the letter he had received had said. Munchie took initiative and fished the letter out of Eight's knapsack, and Eight passed it over to Samus, who opened the envelope and read its contents before pulling out an orange-and-red card with a 75 on it. Nodding, Samus—who had apologized for her words to the others (minus Ridley) earlier—passed it back to Eight, asking, "And your name is?"

"Eight." Gesturing to the rodent in his pocket, Eight continued, "And this is Munchie!"

"Eight, huh? Odd name."

Chuckling, Eight replied, "I get that a lot." After introductions were done, Eight looked out the open window and saw a hole in the ground. Turning his head back, he saw the bandages that the mummy had left behind, and he said, "I think I know how we can progress through here…" Grabbing the bandages, he asked for Simon to hold them while he jumped out of the window and towards the hole. Once he landed, he shot a Kafrizz up to let them know that he was fine. One by one, everyone else jumped down into the hole, and when Simon finally landed, he saw that Luigi and Eight were fighting a teenager wielding a humongous greatsword.

Ike swung Ragnell down on Eight, but he had used Kaclang at the last moment, causing the sword to bounce harmlessly off of his now metallic body. As Ike stared confused, Luigi slid under Eight's open legs and hit Ike with a Fire Jump Punch. causing him to hit his head off of the ceiling. As Ike fell to the ground with a resounding thud, Eight's body turned back to normal.

Later, Ike sat up with a groan, asking, "Ugh, what happened?" As Eight helped him up, Ike looked at him and asked, "You're new here?" Eight nodded, and Ike said, "Name's Ike, pleased to meet you…"

"…Eight."

His eyebrows raised, Ike commented, "Interesting name." Looking across the cavern they were in, he turned to Simon and asked, "Do you know how we can get across?"

Simon pointed to a small wooden raft and said, "That only fits four people, though, so the rest of us have to go on foot. Dracula's curse grows stronger the longer he is active, so we mustn't waste time."

Ike, Eight, Yoshi, and Wario hopped onto the raft, and the others began traversing the limited and precarious terrain.

* * *

Crazy Hand snapped his fingers, and a Spirit Orb flew out of his palm before sucking in Erdrick, leaving Mario and Bowser to fight him. Exchanging glances, the two rivals nodded, and Bowser growled out, "SHOWTIME!"

Next to him, Mario said, "Let's-a-go!" and the two charged at Crazy Hand, who snapped his fingers, clearing all the trees from the field.

Laughing, Crazy Hand taunted, _"Now, we wouldn't want to get any splinters, would we?"_

* * *

Erdrick landed on a platform situated above some futuristic-looking city, where in front of him, a man with a buzzcut and a gun on his arm said, _"Hey, you'd better biggity-bounce your ass outta here!"_

While Erdrick appeared confused by the man's choice of words, he nonetheless pulled out his sword and shield, ready to fight. The Mii Gunner on the other end put on some sunglasses and said, _"Well then… IT'S AVALANCHE TIME, MOTHERFUCKER!"_

Erdrick held up his shield as the man fired a round of bullets at him, and they all harmlessly bounced off of his shield. Pointing his sword at the figure, he then used Kazapple before firing a Kazammle, the bolt of lightning and the blast of dark energy colliding with the Mii Gunner.

Staggered, the Barret-possessed Mii Gunner used Angermax, firing shot after shot at Erdrick, who was forced to hold his Kaclang for a while before Barret lunged in with a punch, managing to break the spell. The barrels on Barret's gun arm began to spin, and he shot out blasts of Firaga, Blizzaga, and Thundaga at Erdrick, who was forced to use his shield to weather the assault of elemental magic.

Erdrick then used Bounce, managing to reflect some of the spells back at Barret, stunning him, before he darted in and grabbed him. With a determined look in his eyes, he snapped his fingers, casting Kamikazee.

A spontaneous explosion blew the Barret Mii far into the depths of the ruined Sector 7, and when the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Erdrick was leaning on his sword for support, due to Kamikazee having sapped away all of his energy. Looking in front of him, he saw a colored orb with an image that looked like the man he had fought, and he grasped it, taking him back to the Dark Realm.

* * *

Bowser shot a roaring torrent of fire at Crazy Hand, who had missed with his ground scraping attack, while Mario, in the middle of his Super Jump, stomped on each one of his fingers while freezing them in place with an Ice Flower so that Bowser could crush them with a Ground Pound. Bowser nodded at Mario, and Mario flashed a thumbs-up.

Grinning, Bowser jumped up and slammed himself onto Crazy Hand's middle and pointer fingers, breaking them, before doing the same to the ring finger and the pinky. Crazy Hand howled in agony before floating away from them, as he couldn't snap his fingers to teleport away.

As Mario and Bowser gave each other a high-five, Erdrick stumbled into the clearing before dropping onto the floor, the Spirit Orb tumbling out of his grasp. Mario pocketed it, before helping Erdrick up with a 1-Up Deluxe. Almost immediately, the legendary hero jolted back up, and once he took in his surroundings, he commented, "We should be going now…"

Once Bowser took out the Koopa Chase Lv2, the three of them drove to Shroob Castle without any further interruptions.

* * *

Ridley stabbed through another door, reaching one of his hands through to unlock it. The others had given him free reign to explore the factory with K. Rool, who knew the ins and the outs of the location, due to him having used it in his plot to blow up DK Island, and King K. Rool typed in a four-digit passcode on a screen, opening a secret door. Walking inside, Ridley's eyes narrowed. To him, something about the room felt… eerily familiar.

As K. Rool pulled out a flashlight, a voice said, _"So, have you finally come back to the Space Pirates, Geoform 187? You look very different… are those cybernetic implants?"_ Ridley froze upon hearing the voice, a voice he had not heard since his second (and final) visit to Zebes during the Super Metroid incident. K. Rool finally managed to get the flashlight to work, and he shined it in the general direction of the voice, who continued, _"And I see you brought one of Kraid's cousins! How wonderful! Now… I **don't** expect any betrayals of any kind, do you hear?"_

Ridley snarled, "I don't do that 'servitude' thing anymore… Mother Brain."

* * *

 **First off, RIP Etika. It's a damn shame that he's gone.**

 **Secondly, our first _Fire Emblem_ character, Ike, joins the story! I admittedly have quite fond memories with using Ike in _Brawl_ / _Smash 4_ , so I figured that I should start with him.**

 **And yes, that's how the rest of the _Dragon Quest_ heroes were introduced. As ****for Banjo, life likes throwing curveballs, I guess.**

 **Ever watch _Final Fantasy VII Machinabridged_? That's what I based the Barret Spirit on.**

 **Hopefully you're excited to see what the Dark Realm (and the Mysterious Dimension) have in store!**

 **Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Villager, Rosalina, Simon, Daisy, Isaac, Geno, Samus, Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Mr. Game & Watch, Eight, Ike**

 **Group 2 (Frantic Factory/Smithy's Keep): Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Mii Swo** **rdfighter, Red, Falco, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, R.O.B., Pichu, King K. Rool, Luminary**

 **Group 3 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar, Bayonetta, Solo**

 **Group 4 (En route to Shroob Castle): Mario, Bowser, Erdrick**

 **Group 5 (Puppet Fighters with known whereabouts): Jigglypuff**

 **Apollo Sanctum Key pieces: 3/13**

 **Feedback is always appreciated!**


	32. Time Keeps Slipping

**It appears that there are several things I need to clear up, if the reviews across the last three chapters are any indication.**

 **NO ONE is getting Banjo's spot. That's it. I reckon that one of the letters being burned in chapter 22 of " _Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Everyone is HERE!_** **" (y'know, the one that literally everyone seems to read) would've been a good enough indicator, but here I am.**

 **Yes, I am perfectly aware of what _Fortune Street_ is, you don't need to fucking tell me what these games are about.**

 **And no, I'm not teasing anymore characters in these notes. Mewtwo was the last one purely so that everyone who kept flooding my reviews with "Where's Mewtwo?" would stop. I answered that, and people still wouldn't stop, so there's no more foreshadowing of Smashers from here on out. Jigglypuff, Meta Knight, and the other _Fire Emblem_ character get a pass due to having already been mentioned.**

 **On a more positive note, thank you to the best guest (it was Miracle Matter from _Kirby 64_ ), Stardust Pie, Jetman615 (I'll look into your idea), and Rie Sonomura for your kind words.**

 **…With all that out of the way, here's the next chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

Bowser pried the gates of Shroob Castle open, before catching a Shroob walking towards what appeared to be the dungeons. Staying behind, he watched as Mario and Erdrick subdued the alien, the latter being far more enthusiastic about it than the former, who sighed and asked, "You-a keeping anyone down there?"

When the Shroob didn't answer, Mario lazily flicked Cappy off of his head and towards the Shroob. Shortly after, the Shroob gained blue eyes and a mustache, and Mario tried searching through its memories for any hints, as Cappy's Capture ability usually gave Mario complete and total control over the host while also allowing him to look through their memories, which Mario regarded as a tad disturbing when he had Captured Bowser in the deep caverns of the Moon Kingdom. Mario kept looking, until he heard an excerpt of a conversation the Shroob had had with another.

 _"You did it, right?"_

 _"Yep. Shroobified the balloon and the swordwielder. They're in the dungeons with that Beanish man if you want to check it out, but I wouldn't stay down there for long..."_

Mario exited the Shroob with a gasp, and he looked at Erdrick and Bowser, who had walked over, before saying, "We-a need to go down. Fawful and Jigglypuff are in the dungeons..."

Erdrick regarded those names with confusion, but Bowser snorted, rolled his eyes, and grumbled, "Never liked that green creep. Ever since the damn Beanbean Kingdom..." The numerous times Bowser had been possessed over the years had made some... interesting alterations to his mind and personality. He still had memories (quite disturbing ones) of his time as Bowletta, where Cackletta had made herself the dominant personality at the expense of him, the five to ten minutes he spent as Shrowser fuelled an obsession about the Shroobs (the chewed-up mushroom that caused the possession resided in a locked-up vault deep within his castle), and the Dream Stone, while not possessing him outright, had made his dreams significantly more vivid.

Mario, mentally agreeing with Bowser, grabbed a torch from the wall and began to lead him and Erdrick down into the basement, which Mario hoped had not changed significantly since the last time he visited... 22 years ago (time screwed with one's brain quite often). A Spirit Orb floated towards Erdrick, who bashed it away with his shield, and Mario finally finished walking down the stairs after ten minutes. Looking around, much to his relief, the dungeons still looked like a massive sewer, and he began checking the grates to see if there were any secret tunnels, as he retroactively remembered Fawful having hid a badge shop in the sewers of Peach's Castle (again, time was confusing).

The sound of scraping metal along the ground, accompanied with a light puff, made Mario whirl around in panic, brandishing the torch as a makeshift weapon. Upon seeing nothing, he relaxed and brought the torch closer to him, before walking deeper into the dungeons.

Marth then leapt out from behind a corner and slashed at Mario, who dodged before holding his torch up and getting a good look at Marth, and he tried not to lose his lunch from what he saw.

The Shroobification had altered many of Marth's features, and not for the better. His left arm was swollen in gross purple bumps, his face and hair were very sickly shades of purple, and his right eye was red with black sclerae, while his left eye indicated possession by Dharkon. Snarling, Marth said something along the lines of, _"Destroy the intruders!"_ while beckoning to something behind him. Jigglypuff sped out from behind the corner, and made a sharp turn before barreling towards Mario, Bowser, and Erdrick using Rollout.

The three of them scattered, and Mario and Bowser were facing Jigglypuff while Erdrick was staring down Marth. Looking at Mario, Bowser clambered into his shell while doing a circle with his left hand, and while Erdrick looked over in confusion, Mario seemed to get the message immediately, smacking Bowser with his hammer, causing the Koopa King to haphazardly pinball around the room, barreling into Jigglypuff, while Marth and Erdrick were engaged in a fierce duel that brought them close to a set of pipes. Marth, being uncharacteristically aggressive, lunged in with a forceful overhead slash which Erdrick barely blocked with his shield, and the former snarled, _"Why won't you DIE?!"_

In response, Erdrick parried away the Falchion before bashing Marth in the face with his shield, causing a stream of blood to dribble from his nose. Angered, Marth used his Shield Breaker to knock the Shield of Heroes out of Erdrick's hand, before slashing at him with a reckless Dancing Blade, and two of the swipes actually struck, ripping through Erdrick's right sleeve and leaving a thin red line on his bicep. Clutching at his right arm with his free hand, Erdrick stumbled back, desperately parrying Marth's strikes, before deciding to go out with a bang. A golden glow came across him, and with a shout of, " _Kamikazee!_ " Erdrick exploded again, collapsing to the floor while sending Marth flying into a wall. Before completely blacking out, Erdrick swore he heard the barking of a dog...

Jigglypuff, meanwhile, had recovered from the early surprise attack, and she was doing a scarily efficient job at whittling down the two Star Children, first by blinding Mario with Flash before firing a Toxic into Bowser's shell, poisoning him and causing him to stop spinning around. Using Sing, she got Bowser to fall asleep before, with a soft snicker, stepping up to him and using Rest.

The results were devastating, to say the least.

Bowser was flung through three sets of walls, leaving a trail of fire as he hit each wall of bricks, before crashing into what looked like a prison cell, and when he slumped forward, thoroughly knocked out, it was revealed that he had a Lip Flower growing on his head.

That left Jigglypuff against a thoroughly disoriented Mario. Mario, having just regained his vision, looked at Jigglypuff, and yelped.

If Marth's partial Shroobification was bad, then Jigglypuff's complete Shroobification was way worse. Her entire body was purple, both of her eyes were red and black with a purple glow, and parts of her appeared to be chewed up, along with bite marks on her ears. Shuddering with disgust at the implications, Mario raised his hammer and swung… only to completely whiff, white spots swimming in his vision.

Jigglypuff then used Double-Edge, ramming headlong into Mario, which surprisingly hurt. As Mario staggered back, his hammer at his side, he began to desperately peruse through his power-up collection to find something good. Pulling out a Rock Mushroom, he turned into Rock Mario, his overalls and hat turning into solid rock, and on his head, Cappy asked, "D'you think you could throw me?"

"You're too-a heavy in this state… just watch!" Mario then transformed into a ballistic boulder, and rolled over Jigglypuff with surprising accuracy. Changing back, he rummaged for another power-up, only to find a Spring Mushroom. Cursing, Mario transformed into Spring Mario, a metallic coil wrapping around him, and he began to bounce around helplessly, accidentally doing a super high jump and landing directly on top of Jigglypuff, knocking her out for the time being. In addition, he bounced up and hit his head on the ceiling, freeing himself from the spring, which shattered upon hitting the ground.

Dazed, Mario went to go sit and lean on a wall, his exhaustion having caught up to him. Near him, Marth was still knocked out, Erdrick couldn't even stand on his own two feet, Bowser was barely stirring, and Jigglypuff looked like a Thwomp had squashed her. Closing his eyes, Mario fell asleep soon after.

That, of course, turned out to be a mistake.

* * *

 _Mario found himself in the same location where he and his brother's dream manifestation had their climactic showdown against Antasma. As an exhausted Mario looked around, wondering why he was in there once more, Antasma materialized in a cloud of dark energy, chuckling and saying, "So, Mario returns once again, scree!"_

 _Mario tiredly pulled out his hammer, and Antasma continued, "Vere's no brother to save you now… you'll die in my domain, alone and afraid… and vonce you're gone, your brother's next! You denied me the Dream Stone, I shall deny you of life! Have at you!"_

 _With a screech, Antasma lunged at Mario, only to lightly slap him across the face and say, "Jiggly puff puff!"_

* * *

Solo tightly gripped onto his sword, staring up at the fusion before him. The woman had merged with both the black heart and the purple woman-shaped mist, and as such, her already risqué outfit had become more revealing, though only by a little, and her clothes had changed from black to purple. A thick purple fog surrounded Bayonetta as she chuckled and said, _"Ah, you foolish mortals, thought you could seal me away forever, did you?"_ Feeling at herself, the Shadow Queen-possessed Bayonetta mused, _"I forgot how good it was to have a body…"_

Snake grunted, "Yeah? Well enjoy it, because you won't have it for too long."

 _"Is that a challenge?"_

Snake pulled out one of Meryl's Desert Eagles that she had given him ages ago and was about to take a shot, only for the gun to fly out of his hands and disassemble itself.

Dimentio cackled, casting the parts aside with a lazy flick of his hands, before creating a square box of magic around King Dedede, who simply stared confused. Dimentio snapped his fingers, and the box violently exploded, sending Dedede flying. As the king of Dream Land slid to a stop, he sat up and saw that his body appeared to be slightly crumpled. Smoothing it out, he then stood up, confused but ready to fight.

Joker looked at Dr. Mario and asked, "Care to explain?"

"Not now, I'll explain later!" Stefano barely managed to dodge a stomp from Madama Butterfly's foot, and the Shadow Queen whirled around before using one of her shadowy hands to try and drag Pit down into the void, but Snake gave his Cypher to Pit and instructed him to hold on. Pit did as he was told, and the Shadow Queen snarled as she reluctantly withdrew her hands. Sighing with relief, Pit was about to relax until he saw that he was face-to-face with Dimentio, who let out a sinister high-pitched laugh. Desperately scrambling onto the top of the Cypher, he held out his bifurcated bow, ready to go toe-to-toe with the magician, only for Dimentio to snap his fingers, trapping the Cypher in that same magical field that had exploded on Dedede.

Panicking, Pit glided off of the Cypher and onto one of the many smiling platforms in the room. The Cypher exploded shortly after, and Pit began shooting arrows to keep Dimentio distracted.

The Shadow Queen had sent Joker flying with a barrage of punches courtesy of Madama Butterfly, but not before ridding him of his knife courtesy of an artful display with her Rakshasa. Bayonetta walked up to the Phantom Thief, disdainfully kicking his hand aside when he tried to reach for his knife. Much to Joker's simultaneous fear and annoyance, Arsene had not materialized despite the heavy beating he had just taken. Bayonetta snidely said, _"Wasted effort, boy_ _. You know not of the world I shall make… one subjugated to my reign of eternal darkness!"_

Before her monologue could continue, however, suddenly, from out of the wall, eight hearts made out of pure crystal, each one a different color, began circling around the Shadow Queen before flashing, their power slightly weakening her influence over Bayonetta. Gasping in shock, the Shadow Queen snarled, _"You dare?!"_

Dr. Mario breathed in awe, "The Pure Hearts…"

Matthew looked at him and asked, "What are they?"

Sighing in exasperation, Stefano exclaimed, "Why does everyone always ask me these questions?!"

It was then that Captain Falcon whiffed a flying knee, and as Bayonetta retreated, he turned back and answered, "You're the only one who knows about these things, of course we're gonna ask you!"

Wolf smugly looked at Dr. Mario before adding, "He's got a point, Doc."

Letting out an indignant huff, the good doctor said, "Fine, I'll tell all of you what this is about _if_ we're still alive."

Fox and Wolf exclaimed, "What do you mean, ' _if?'_ "

Dr. Mario pointed to the Shadow Queen sending a cloud of poisonous gas their way, causing Fox and Wolf to scatter, lest their paper bodies be melted. Undeterred, Dr. Mario used his Super Sheet, sending the cloud upwards to where Dimentio was lazily hovering around, dodging everything Pit threw at him, be it arrows, laser bolts, and even eggplants that he had gotten from... somewhere.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Pit was about to try and fly on his own, but Dimentio stopped the pathetically pointless attempt by idly flicking a Spirit Orb at him.

* * *

Pit found himself at the outskirts of the Reset Bomb Forest, except there was absolutely no trace of… anything. The destruction that the humans had left in their wake over Hades' false temptation wasn't present, and Viridi wasn't waiting to nuke the place with one of her Reset Bombs. Looking around, confused, he wandered into the forest itself, pushing aside some thick foliage when he saw a bright light flash from the heart of the forest. Running up, he saw that it was a Spirit Orb that was sitting there, and a voice said, _"Well, don't just stand there, pick me up!"_

Pit, in shock, asked, "V-Viridi?!"

 _"Yes, it's me, feather-brain! I got blindsided by one of those stupid lasers, I can only assume Phosphora did as well, and now I'm sitting in an empty world with nothing to do!"_

Picking up the orb, Pit felt it go inside him, and Viridi's voice, now in his head, said, _"Like last time, I'll be serving as your mission control and will be able to grant you the Power of Flight... for five minutes."_

Pit exclaimed, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Grinning, he saw a white light come over him, and he found himself back in the castle, Dimentio sending Dr. Mario flying with a shuriken in retaliation for sending a poison cloud up at him.

* * *

Dimentio looked at Pit, who was now achieving liftoff, and he flipped upside down, laughing, _"It's time to turn this little game on its head!"_ Snapping his fingers, the entire palace shifted, and the battlefield had taken on a whole new perspective, giving the others frontal views of both Bayonetta and Dimentio.

Joker pointed his grappling hook at Dimentio and fired, the hook managing to latch onto the harlequin's frilly collar. With a yell of, "Take care of that thing!" Joker detached his grappling hook and flew over Dimentio's head, Arsene choosing that particular moment to materialize. Looking back, Joker asked, "You couldn't have done that when I was getting my ass kicked just now?"

Arsene's smooth baritone rang in Joker's ear, _"We Personas tend to enjoy a bit of… dramatic flair in these battles, to keep it short."_

Joker internally groaned before taking a few shots at Dimentio with his gun, which actually caught the jester.

* * *

Luigi was hopping across the rocky terrain, leading everyone else by a significant margin due to his own experience when it came to platforming, when some kind of fish-man hybrid jumped out of the water and brandished a trident at him. Looking down, he saw that the four on the raft were fending off the same creatures with various moves before looking back at the one that stood in front of him. The Manly Fish said something unintelligible before trying to stab at Luigi, only for him to dodge and catch it with the Poltergust before throwing it behind him, where Daisy ran up and dunked it with a downwards punch, doing a short fist pump in celebration.

Isaac had raised several columns of earth from out of the water while also freezing over some of the water to make navigating the cavern easier for the others. Simon and Geno were whipping and shooting bats out of the air respectively, while Mr. Game & Watch froze a Manly Fish solid with an 8 from Judge. Samus, still without her Power Suit, used the suit's arm cannon that she had taken from the bear's backpack and shot several bursts of ice at the bats up above.

Finally at the end, Luigi sucked a ghost into the Poltergust, and everyone else arrived at his location, with Wario, Eight, Ike, and Yoshi coming last due to their raft almost breaking up. Looking in front of them, they saw that their path was sealed off by a wall of rock, and Simon remarked, "Odd, I don't recall this being here..."

Pikachu stepped to the front, cracking his knuckles confidently, before using Iron Tail on the wall, shattering it into pieces. Looking back at the others, he remarked, " _I would've used one of my costumes, but those get a little... destructive at_ _times._ "

Walking into the catacombs, the group cautiously made sure to not disturb anything, lest they end up having to fight yet another monster. It seemed to work, until Ness tripped over an overgrown root, alerting some more mummies.

From his throne, Dracula watched an image of the Smashers fighting their way through his castle, and he mused, _"I must stop the short fat man as soon as possible."_

* * *

 _"Quite a shame, really... NOW DIE!"_

Mother Brain fired a laser at Ridley, who dodged and retaliated with searing hot shots of plasma, which instead harmlessly bounced off of Mother Brain's dome. Quickly taking on a different strategy, he instead began to attack the glass casing with brief bursts of plasma from up above, all while King K. Rool hid from the carnage, dialing someone on his walkie-talkie upon seeing that Ridley's fire had failed to melt the glass. A bored voice came from the other side of the device, asking, "What is it, Kaptain?"

"KROSSHAIR! Get yourself to my position!"

"And where is that, _Your Majesty_?" Krosshair asked in a patronizing tone.

Muttering to himself, "I'd fire you if you weren't so good at your job, you unruly little shit," King K. Rool answered, "The Brain Room! Get over here on the double!"

Krosshair hung up, and K. Rool switched personas to King Krusha K. Rool, wrapping his fists before donning the Kaptain's Kloak to turn himself invisible so he could get the appropriate augmentation for his fists. Going behind Mother Brain, K. Rool smacked her glass casing with his blunderbuss, causing some cracks to form, before firing a kannonball at the cracks, making them spread across Mother Brain's dome like a spider web.

Ridley perched on one of the support beams on the ceilings, his robotic eyes beginning to do some sort of laser targeting. He had seen K. Rool's heat signature doing... something to Mother Brain's casing, but she was too obsessed with Ridley to notice that a spider web of cracks was forming at the back of her dome. K. Rool shot the casing one more time, and a hole appeared in the glass. Snarling with glee, King Krusha K. Rool pumped all three gases the blunderbuss had into the hole, filling Mother Brain's glass casing with noxious multicolored gases. The gases in question, having already been made with cognitive disruption in mind, took their effect immediately, debilitating Mother Brain by either causing her to freeze up, slow down, or just stare around blankly and fire lasers and rings in the wrong direction.

Ridley took action, stabbing his metal tail at the front of the glass, cracking it further, while K. Rool, having switched back to his normal personality of King K. Rool, yelled into the walkie-talkie, "KROSSHAIR!"

Letting out an annoyed grumble, the Kremling sharpshooter said, "I'm on it..."

Sitting in the rafters above, Krosshair took aim at the right side of Mother Brain's dome, where the most cracks had formed, and he fired, shattering half the casing while causing the gases K. Rool had shot in there to leak out before leaving. K. Rool, having put on a gas mask, watched as Ridley stabbed his tail into Mother Brain's now uncovered eye, causing her to screech in pain, and once Ridley roughly yanked his tail out, leaving a nasty gash, he used his Plasma Scream to finish the job. When the heat from the laser had died down, all that was left of Mother Brain was a few splotches of brain matter along with the metal parts of her case. Ridley snorted, wanting nothing to do with the Space Pirates given how badly they had bungled his cloning after the Bottle Ship incident.

Once the gases had cleared up, K. Rool took off the gas mask and said, "I don't think that there's anything else in this sector..." pulling out the blueprints of the factory he had taken from his room to verify his statement. Rolling them back up, he began to run over to the others, Ridley reluctantly following.

The Luminary used Kaboom, blowing apart a door that had a dark vortex swirling behind it. Wanting to go in, he was about to step forward, until he heard a yell of, " _WAIT!_ " Looking back, he saw King K. Rool running up to them, Ridley close behind.

Catching up with the others, K. Rool, panting in exhaustion, gasped out, "There's another mech that's missing from the factory... Project EXCELSUS, I think it was..."

Red sent out Charizard and hopped on, bracing himself as Charizard punched his way through several floors in the factory and out through the roof. Looking out into the distance, he saw a humongous six-legged mech walking its way through a red ocean. Dropping back down into the factory, he told the others, "Looks like it escaped." K. Rool balked, but didn't say anything else, and Eleven, equipping the Supreme Sword of Light, lead the others into the portal, preparing to face the unknown.

* * *

"Wha?"

Mario woke up to find himself staring at Jigglypuff, who had slapped him silly with Wake-Up Slap once she had recovered from being flattened twice. Looking over, he saw that Erdrick was casting a healing spell on himself while leaning on a wall for support, Bowser had just barely stumbled out of the mess he had been buried under, and Marth was rubbing his head, the explosion from Erdrick having possibly concussed him. Before Mario could do anything, however, he heard a high-pitched chortle along with a voice that said, _"Ah! So the red rat-fink shows up like the meat of loneliness that is missing his potatoes!"_

Mario froze and turned around.

Fawful, fully resurrected and back in his Beanish form, floated in a nearby sewer tunnel.

* * *

 **Right, sorry for the rant up there... it was a lot of frustration boiling over.**

 **Despite not being possessed anymore, K. Rool still retains the loyalty of his Kremling Krew.**

 **Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Villager, Rosalina, Simon, Daisy, Isaac, Geno, Samus, Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Mr. Game & Watch, Eight, Ike**

 **Group 2 (Frantic Factory/Smithy's Keep): Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Mii Swo** **rdfighter, Red, Falco, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, R.O.B., Pichu, King K. Rool, Luminary**

 **Group 3 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar, Bayonetta, Solo**

 **Group 4 (Shroob Castle): Mario, Bowser, Erdrick, Marth, Jigglypuff**

 **Group 5 (Puppet Fighters with known whereabouts): Meta Knight**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	33. Tales of the Abyss

**I probably won't be doing as much talking as I used to in these notes until I calm down from that massive rant, so enjoy the next chapter.**

* * *

Down on the ground, Captain Falcon (in a Paperized body) dodged Bayonetta's axe kick before managing to successfully hit her with a Knee Smash, sending her rebounding across the room. As she unsteadily rose to her feet, the Shadow Queen's voice whispered in her head, _"Seize anyone that is a threat, starting with the racer."_ Planting her hands on the ground, Bayonetta channeled the Shadow Queen through the floor, causing a pool of shadow to appear underneath Captain Falcon. Before he could react, shadowy hands reached out, grabbing him and swiftly dragging him from the waist down into the pool of shadow. Snake noticed, and ran over to him, desperately trying to pull him out, which only strengthened the pull of the Shadow Queen, and she began to close the portal around Falcon's waist.

Noticing, Captain Falcon panicked and he yelled, "David, you gotta let me go!"

"Douglas, we're not giving you up to her-"

"I'll be cut in half if you don't release me! I swear to you, I'll be fine if you do!"

Snake, though visibly stunned, reluctantly let go of Falcon's hand, and he watched as the shadowy hands dragged Falcon into the void, the portal closing up shortly afterwards. His mind now fuelled with anger, Snake quietly activated his Octocamo and began planting landmines across the ground indiscriminately.

Matthew was engaged in blade-to-blade combat with Bayonetta, with her dual-wielding the Rakshasa versus his Sol Blade, while Mega Man stood in the back, harassing her with the various weapons from his Variable Weapons System along with his Mega Buster. Using the Junk Shield, Mega Man released it as soon as it formed around him, battering Bayonetta with chunks of assorted scrap metal, which allowed Matthew to get in and leave a cut across her cheek. Bayonetta's pupils narrowed, and in a blind fury, she began battering the Adept with rapid uppercuts courtesy of Madama Butterfly before driving him into a wall with a gigantic haymaker of a punch, leaving Matthew incapacitated. Cloud then jumped from behind Bayonetta and brought the Buster Sword down on her, but she simply used one of her Rakshasa blades to parry it, while blocking Solo's frontal slash with her sword. Disarming Cloud with a parry, she brought the second blade down onto Solo's Zenithian Sword, slowly but surely overpowering him.

Though fear was present in Solo's eyes, he stood determined, and his sword began crackling with electricity. Using Kazapple, Solo managed to push Bayonetta a few steps back... right onto one of Snake's planted landmines, which exploded the moment she stepped on it, crumpling her legs and sending her sky-high. Hitting her head on one of the platforms, the Shadow Queen exited Bayonetta's unconscious body before fully possessing her most recently caught vessel; Captain Falcon. Channeling herself through the ground, she pooled some shadow around Matthew's barely stirring body, possessing him as well, which caused him to sit up like a zombie.

Up above, Joker managed to tag Dimentio with a few more good shots, staggering the jester, before thinking to himself, _"We won't be getting anywhere unless..."_ Looking at a slightly crumpled Pit, he realized, _"Of course."_ As Arsene disappeared behind him, Joker switched Personas to Surt, bellowing, " _INFERNO!_ "

The Norse demon materialized and swung the Laevateinn down on Dimentio, who spontaneously caught on fire. As he slowly burned to ashes, Dimentio hissed, _"You shall perish with me..."_ snapping his fingers as he was consumed by the flames. Once Dimentio was reduced to a pile of ashes, Surt disappeared, and Pit, finally with the Power of Flight, gave Joker a lift to the ground, where he picked up his knife and was about to rejoin the fight, only to get punched in the mouth by a bruised and beaten Matthew, who then whirled around and pointed the Sol Blade at him in challenge. Striking a pose, Joker accepted, before vaulting over and summoning Kohryu, the massive gold-and-white dragon circling behind him.

Joker approached Matthew, using the Persona's admittedly effective intimidation factor to back Matthew towards a wall, and once he had the possessed Adept fully up against the wall, Joker threw his knife, Paradise Lost, at Matthew's sword arm, pinning him to the wall via his sleeve. As Matthew desperately tried to pry the knife out of the wall, Joker began to charge a Mapsiodyne in the hopes of hitting Captain Falcon as well so that the fight could be wrapped up faster, but Matthew, with an intense look of anger and concentration, began winding back his free left hand, which was beginning to take on a cold aura, with shards of ice forming on it, and after loosening the knife as best he could, he kicked off the wall and reached as far as he could, managing to punch Joker in the jaw, stopping his Mapsiodyne.

Finally managing to pry the knife out, Matthew cast it aside with a look of disdain on his face before hefting up the Sol Blade once again and lunging at Joker with a swing. His left arm would be effectively unusable for a bit, due to it having frosted over because of him using up all eighteen of his Mercury Djinn to deliver that icy punch, so his technique was less prevalent, and as a result, he targeted Joker with wild swings instead of the more refined movements he had been known for.

Massaging his jaw with his left hand, Joker dodged out of the way of an overhead swing before hitting Matthew with Eiha, serving to slowly drain away the Adept's strength through the Curse-aligned attack. With a look of obvious discomfort on his face, Matthew lunged forward with a one-handed swing, his left arm hanging uselessly by his side due to it being iced up. Joker used Rebel's Guard to block the attack, and Arsene materialized. However, Joker saw the Shadow Queen behind him, and he quickly switched Personas to Satanael, snapping his fingers to issue the command while behind him, the Pure Hearts flashed once more, weakening the Shadow Queen further.

Satanael used Sinful Shell, the blood-red bullet tearing right through the Shadow Queen, and for one scary moment, she laughed… before slumping over and beginning to dissolve. Captain Falcon and Matthew began turning back to normal, and Joker breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the shadows dissolve, picking up his knife as well.

It wouldn't last long, however, as the walls of Count Bleck's palace began to crumble, forcing Snake to hurriedly drag over Bayonetta, Captain Falcon, and Matthew before placing down the wormhole fulton. Once everyone else had made their exit, Snake took one last look at the disappearing palace before hopping in.

Now back in the Mysterious Dimension, Snake looked at everyone else and saw that their bodies were no longer made of paper. Near him, Matthew was casting Potent Cure on his frozen arm to accelerate the healing process, while in his head, Sveta's Spirit warned, _"Be more careful next time..."_

Meanwhile, as everyone was recovering from their sojourn in the Paperverse, Pit noticed a ReDead approaching the group, which was about to unleash its potent scream before getting skewered from above by a massive greatsword. The knight holding said sword edged forward with a zombie-like gait, blue-and-black grime dripping from his armor and sword, while the ReDead gradually slid off the blade, the Abyssal sludge slowly dissolving it. Pit let out a little yelp of alarm, causing everyone to look in his direction and towards the unknown figure approaching them.

Snake pulled up his Codec, and after a ring, Otacon's voice answered, exclaiming, _"Snake, that's Knight Artorias!_ _"_

"Artorias? Sounds like some old-school guy from the Middle Ages."

 _"That assumption isn't exactly wrong, per se. He's a former champion of Lord Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder. Once, he was a proud knight, the symbol of purity, and he held an intense hatred for the Darkwraiths, knights who fell to the Dark. However, one day, he was overrun by the Abyss in the town of Oolacile, and he sacrificed himself to keep his loyal wolf, Sif, safe."_

"Anyone who saves dogs is a friend of mine."

 _"I... wouldn't be so sure about that, Snake. The Artorias that approaches you right now is a shell of his former self, now being an almost lifeless husk that is fuelled by the power of the Abyss. Stay on guard, as his technique is surprisingly fast for a man of his stature."_

"Got it." Snake deactivated his Codec and pointed his SOCOM at the approaching figure, advising everyone else, "Stay sharp."

As everyone assumed combat stances, the knight simply planted his greatsword in the ground and raised his right arm—due to his left being broken—in placation and said, _"I am Artorias the Abysswalker, one of the Four Knights of Lord Gwyn... whatever thou art,_ stay away _!"_

While Snake cautiously motioned for everyone to keep their weapons trained on the knight, he inquired, "What do you mean, 'stay away?'" He then noticed that Artorias' left arm was hanging limp by his side, and he also asked, "What's wrong with your arm?"

 _"The power of the Abyss draws near... soon, it shall consume all, including me."_ Before he could answer the second question, however, the Abyss took control of him once more, and Artorias screamed in agony, clutching his head with his good hand while black smoke and dark blue sludge pooled around him, before finally prying his sword out of the ground and slinging it over his shoulder while standing in a hunched position. Artorias charged the group, swinging his blade at the younger of the blonde swordsmen.

Matthew, in a panic, used Chasm, and while the Venus Djinni managed to block most of the power behind the attack, the flat part of the blade broke through and hit Matthew with the force of a baseball bat, sending him flying into parts unknown. Artorias then lunged in with a stab, which Popo and Nana barely managed to dodge, before leaping up with surprising speed and attempting to skewer Cloud like he had the ReDead. Cloud barely managed to dodge, but was sent sliding a fair distance away, forcing him to use the Buster Sword to stop his momentum. Roaring like a feral animal, Artorias then used his broken arm to fling sludge directly at Bayonetta, who used Witch Time to dodge before trying to get in close, but that was snuffed by Artorias casting magic that resulted in a massive explosion around his feet, sending Bayonetta flying.

Snake activated his Octocamo, but Artorias simply flung more sludge at his general vicinity, some of it splattering onto Snake's sneaking suit, giving away his position. Artorias then did a somersault through the air, slashing at Snake in a similar fashion to Ike's Aether, but Snake dodged while simultaneously trying to claw the sludge off his suit as the Octocamo deactivated.

Greninja melted into a pool of shadow, but Artorias saw the shadow moving, and he somersaulted to where Greninja was going to materialize before driving the sword into the ground. Greninja had barely managed to dodge, however, and the Ninja Pokémon was visibly panting in a mixture of relief and fear as he used Water Shuriken, the sharp star of water traveling towards Artorias.

Rolling out of the way, Artorias then felt something light hit him, and he looked down to see a short teenager hitting him in the chestplate of his armor. Artorias brought his blade down on where he had seen that person, but Little Mac darted out of his vicinity before lunging in with a Jolt Haymaker to the back. Slightly staggered, Artorias instead threw more sludge behind him, leaving Little Mac no choice but to abandon his next plan of attack.

Popo and Nana fired a dual Blizzard at him, but Artorias simply swung his sword down towards them, forcing the couple to scatter. Everyone looked at the corrupted knight in a mixture of shock and terror, wondering how someone with such an incredibly debilitating handicap could be that capable of a fighter. However, the black smoke suddenly disappeared, and Artorias nearly dropped to his knees, the sudden departure of the power of the Abyss having weakened him. In his delirium, Artorias murmured, _"Sif? Is that you? You've gotten so big..."_ The Abyss then retook its hold upon the once-incorruptible knight, and he roared before doing a circular slash in Pit's direction, who put up his Orbitars in desperation, but Artorias' sword broke right through them and sent Pit flying.

Everyone stared at Artorias in bewilderment, none of them having landed a single hit on him save for Little Mac.

Meanwhile, Matthew crash-landed in a cave, sliding on his side before hitting a nest. Looking at his slightly torn jacket, he dusted himself off before taking his surroundings in, a feeling of dread coming over him. All over the floor were shattered eggshells, the maimed and partly-eaten corpses of some species of dinosaur, and the walls were streaked in blood. Matthew heard something lightly snarl behind him, and, visibly shaking, he slowly turned around before being greeted with a draconic face that he had never seen before.

A Hydreigon, drool dripping from its teeth with an unfocused look in its eyes, glared right at Matthew, thinking that the person in front of her was behind the deaths of her children.

The only thing that Matthew could think to himself was, _"Oh, damn it..."_

* * *

Meanwhile, at a far-off cliffside, a great grey wolf, standing by a lone grave in the Mysterious Dimension, howled towards the moon.

* * *

Mario found himself holding onto his hammer, his heart pounding wildly in his chest, as he asked, "B-but how are-a you still alive?! I saw-a you die!"

 _"Fawful shall not spill his secrets like the klutz at the dinner table who spills the gravy of answers!"_

Bowser clawed his way out of the rubble he was buried in, and in a dazed stupor, he grumbled, "What's with the hubbub?" Managing to exit the prison cell that Jigglypuff had launched him through, he looked around, before noticing that Mario looked unusually startled. Turning his head to where Mario was staring, his eyes widened, having recognized the person on sight. Steam blowing out of his nostrils, Bowser snarled, " _You_."

 _"Why yes, you who is of the silly turtle soup, it is I, the great Fawful!"_ Bowser could only tilt his head in response.

Erdrick, meanwhile, was helping Marth recuperate with a Fullheal, and he looked over in confusion, unsure what to make of the situation. Mario was about to approach until he heard a device beep as well as Fawful calling out, _"Fawfully-doo, Dark Star, where are you?"_

The two Star Children exchanged uncertain glances, for they assumed that the Dark Star had been destroyed years ago, but they had—very begrudgingly—agreed that the Beanish man's technology was very impressive and dwarfed the Mushroom Kingdom's own tech (the phone Mario had was provided by the Smash tournament), so the possibility of the Dark Star having returned was not out of the question.

The device let out a loud buzzing sound, and Fawful, through grit teeth, said, _"I... have... FURY!"_

Fawful's Vacuum Helmet then activated, blasting Mario and the others with some sort of awful-smelling green gas, and Fawful zipped away from Mario and company before flying out of Shroob Castle and towards the big purple vortex in the far northeast, where a gigantic hexapedal robot appeared to be fighting... a bolt of lightning that kept zipping on and around it? Fawful paid the robot no mind, and flew straight past it and into the vortex, where the signal for his device began beeping louder and in a more rapid fashion. Letting out a small chortle, he began looking around for the Dark Star.

Once the smoke had cleared, Mario opted to explore the rest of the castle, and through a fit of coughs, he said, "Let's-a get that-a Chain Chomp, shall we?"

Erdrick parroted, "Chain Chomp?" He then heard something bark, and he looked at Mario, who nodded when he jerked his thumb backwards. Nodding, Erdrick then pulled his sword out of the sheath, ready to venture on. However, Bowser noticed something suspicious about the door they were standing next to, which was made out of metal unlike every other door in the dungeon. Pressing his head towards it, he could make out the sounds of... something going on. Bowser punched the door down, and saw an empty laboratory with a computer next to it.

Looking at the others, Bowser growled, "Hey, you might want to take a look at this!"

Mario and the others stepped into the room, and Bowser, after closing the door, looked at the computer, which was requesting a password. Mario, stroking his chin in thought, asked, "Have-a you tried 'destroy?'"

Bowser looked at the keyboard, which was filled with all sorts of alien symbols, and he scratched his head in confusion. Mario, remembering the Shroob scripture that he had found all those years ago in the castle's library, walked over to Bowser and typed on two symbols. The computer logged on, and four symbols popped up, one of a Shroob, one of a ray gun, one of a Shroob Saucer, and finally, one of the Smash tournament's insignia. Mario selected the last one out of curiosity, and a _massive_ database of all the fighters in the Smash tournament's history popped up. Mario, his eyes wide with fear, selected an image of Meta Knight. Immediately, a full collection of information—whether personal or not—appeared for the masked swordsman, and in bold red letters, his status was listed as, 'enslaved.'

His hand shaking, Mario exited the database and clicked on Young Link.

He came up as enslaved as well. However, unlike Meta Knight, he had a given location; the database on the Hero of Time had a given location which was called 'Hyrule Saga.'

Mario hit the table with his fist and said, "We need to-a get this computer out of here." Clutching at his head, he muttered, "Damn it, I wish we had-a taken R.O.B. with us..."

It was then that Cappy got an idea. Looking down, the young Bonneter asked, "Hey Mario, how much do you remember from Capturing Geno?"

"Quite a lot, actually... got some stuff from his mind as well." Mario looked down at the keyboard with a somewhat guilty expression on his face.

Nodding as best he could, Cappy pressed further with, "And what about Bowser?"

"Just as-a fresh in my mind as it-a was six months ago... you just can't forget that-a kind of stuff."

Now seeming to have connected every puzzle piece, Cappy finished with, "The frog in Bonneton?"

"Yes, I still remember. What was-a the point of asking-"

Cappy flopped off of Mario's head and onto the desk, exclaiming, "Since you remember stuff from your Captures for a long time, maybe we could Capture the computer to memorize the database?"

Mario had a hand raised, intending to point out that it probably wouldn't work, but the more he dwelled on it, the more he realized it made sense. His eyes twinkling in exuberance, Mario exclaimed, "Mamma-mia, _that's-a brilliant_!" Picking up Cappy, he tossed him at the computer, and Cappy latched onto a small knob at the top, indicating that the Capture was successful.

After a short and unpleasant feeling, Mario's eyes and mustache materialized on the monitors, and he cheerfully said, _"Oh, so this is-a what that Mario Matrix minigame felt-a like at the Star Carnival_ _!"_ Taking on a more serious tone, he continued, _"It looks like I'm-a going to have to stay in the computer for about-a two hours at minimum. Anyone got a timer?"_

Bowser began rigging a kitchen timer he had found on the desk which was shaped like a Shroob's cap, and he replied, "I'm on it."

Mario offhandedly commented, _"Oh, the-a database says that your name is Arvus, Erdrick. Would-a you like to be called that?"_

After a bit of deliberation, Erdrick answered, "Both are fine." Thinking about something else, he asked, "Shouldn't we be protecting you in case those creepy mushroom guys come back?"

Marth mused, "That's a good point, actually. How about we stand guard until Mario gets whatever he needs?"

Jigglypuff nodded in enthusiasm, and Erdrick, with a thin smile, said, "I'm in."

* * *

Simon's whip managed to snare Igor off Frankenstein's back, and with a grunt, he slammed the diminutive man onto the ground behind him, allowing for Ike to finish the job with Eruption. Wario, meanwhile, chucked Frankenstein into a wall with a one-handed throw, before snatching a nearby torch and lighting himself on fire. With a mad cackle, Wario barreled right into Frankenstein, taking out the amalgamated monster.

As the fire died down, Wario flexed, and everyone else could only roll their eyes, before something happened behind them that sent Luigi barreling into the ceiling. Looking behind, they saw something run behind a suit of armor, and Isaac simply used Quake to topple the armor and reveal the culprit.

Ken Masters, his eyes a dark purple, stared at the group with his arms crossed and said, _"What do you want?"_

Samus changed the settings on her arm cannon, replying, "To kick your ass." To begin, she shot a burst of ice from the cannon behind her, sealing the rest of her comrades out with a giant wall of ice, followed by her murmuring, "Nothing personal..."

Samus then charged Ken with a running knee strike, her jet boots providing some extra propulsion, but Ken successfully parried the attack and retaliated with a Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. Slightly staggered from the series of kicks without the extra bulk her Power Suit gave her (she hoped it would be fixed by now), Samus retaliated by firing a bolt from her Paralyzer, which Ken tanked through with a jumping Focus Attack, followed by him moving forward with a short burst of speed into an upwards kick, which Samus Flip Jumped right over.

Activating the Plasma Whip function of the Paralyzer, Samus lashed out at Ken, managing to score a hit on his chest and left leg. Ken stumbled back, his gi having slight tears at the chest area and a smoking gash on his leg thanks to the searing heat of the plasma, and he now had a noticeable limp, making some of his attacks move slower than they were before in addition to hindering his already below-average jumping ability.

Ken instead opted to fire a Hadoken from his position, but Samus slid under that and dodged a punch that Ken attempted to throw before noticing a vibrant glow come across him, signaling that he had a Final Smash ready to use. Her eyes widening, Samus quickly got out of Ken's immediate vicinity.

Ken used Shinryuken, and a massive pillar of flame erupted near him, melting the ice wall the Samus had created. However, his moment of relief didn't last long, as Samus fired a burst of ice at him before jumping up and swinging the cannon arm at him, leaving an icy trail. Ken sidestepped the slash, but found the muzzle of Samus' gun pointed right at him. With a smirk, Samus said, "Gotcha," before firing, stunning Ken in place and leaving him open for a Boost Kick. Samus proceeded to do just that, kicking Ken into a nearby pillar and putting her Paralyzer away once she touched the ground.

Dragging Ken over, Samus then went to sit down on a toppled pillar of stone that Isaac was also sitting on, and the Adept was polishing his sword while muttering, "What's next, a dragon bat?"

After about forty-five minutes, Ken sat up with a groan, asking, "Ugh... has anyone seen Ryu?"

Luigi answered, "He's fine, but not with us."

Looking around, Ken mumbled, "Where the hell am I?"

Simon, having overheard, answered, "Dracula's Castle."

That perked Ken up, and he exclaimed, "I thought that was a myth, holy..."

Peach gently shushed him as she worked her healing magic on his leg.

Once she had finished her job, Ike, Ragnell resting on his shoulder asked, "Should we proceed now?"

Simon nodded, and led the way.

The dungeons of the castle were surprisingly simple to traverse, with the only threats there being a few skeletons and _maybe_ some ceiling traps, but soon, the group climbed up a set of stairs, and found themselves at the rear end of a hallway, where knights with axes and Medusa heads roamed freely, with the exception of one fully armored knight with a massive sword. Ike squinted, and his eyes widened in recognition once he saw who it was.

The Black Knight seemed to notice Ike as well, and he slammed his sword into the ground, causing the Medusa heads to fly back to the stone busts in the hallway and the knights to go back to the windows, becoming as still as stone once they assumed their positions. Zelgius raised his sword and pointed it straight at Ike and then Isaac, indicating that he wanted a duel with those two. The two swordsmen held their swords at the ready, and the three of them (Ike, Isaac, and the Black Knight) began walking closer to one another.

* * *

"Hey, Metal Face!"

Ridley whirled around, some Plasma Breath at the ready, but he only saw Kazooie looking at him, and he thought, _"This FUCKING bird..."_ His eyes squinted, he snarled, "What?"

"Could you maybe stop griping about cybernetics and stuff like that? Makes me wonder if the clown _kept_ the nuts when he was operating on you!"

Before Banjo could do his almost trademark shocked shout of, "KAZOOIE!" something orange and hard hit the Breegull in the head. Turning around, she was about to give the attacker a piece of her mind before seeing that it was Ridley, who had pried out one of his robotic eyes, revealing the burn marks around where his organic eye had been burned out, courtesy of Mad Jack's welder.

Snatching the eye off the floor, Ridley began coiling his tail around Kazooie's neck and snarled, " _That_ is the reason I hate these cybernetics. My first time was painful. This one was even worse." Forcing the eye back into the socket and loosening his tail, he stomped forward and hissed, "Better watch your mouth, birdie." Kazooie inhaled a massive amount of air afterwards.

Banjo gave Kazooie a somewhat disapproving look before running to catch up with everyone else. Once he did, he saw Eleven holding up his sword, which was glowing with a bright golden light, Link and Zelda also providing assistance.

Eleven kept walking forwards until he stepped onto a tile, which opened up the dead-end wall he had just happened to run into. Pressing forwards, he continued leading the others until he heard some sort of booming laughter, along with, _"These Smashers seem well-equipped! Their weapons will be quite useful in my conquest..."_

* * *

Matthew nervously backed up from the dragon, not sure what to do, but it kept following him closely, its eyes still holding that same unfocused glare. Upon taking a closer look, Matthew saw that its neck was matted with blood from... something. Before he could say anything more, he stumbled over a Spirit Orb that just happened to be there, and he was given a brief reprieve from the dragon.

* * *

Matthew found himself on a fountain somewhere out in the cosmos, the background being illuminated with a beautiful purple and pink glow. He didn't have much time to admire his surroundings, however, as the sound of whirring blades made him look up, and he barely managed to sidestep a large, lance-like arm.

Corrin stared at the Adept idly, before suddenly gaining the power to unleash a Final Smash. Running up to Matthew, who had jumped onto one of the platforms, she unleashed her Torrential Roar, trapping and battering him in a vortex of water before sending him flying off the fountain. In a panic, Matthew shot some vines of Growth towards the edge of the fountain, and the vines tethered, allowing Matthew to pull himself back onto the platform... where he saw that Corrin had _yet another_ Final Smash ready.

Having none of it, he quickly used Condemn, and much to his surprise and relief, it actually worked, with Corrin slumping over lifelessly as she ran over to him, before turning into a Spirit Orb shortly after. Taking a closer look, Matthew saw that the orb housed a blue-haired lady who was holding a lance while wearing a very weird outfit.

Though he was surprised, Matthew took the orb, and was transported back to the cave.

* * *

The Hydreigon growled upon seeing the blonde human suddenly materialize back in its cave, assuming that he had come back to slaughter her babies. Before she could eradicate him with Dragon Pulse, however, she heard a scuffle behind her, and, whirling around, she saw that the intruder, a white-haired girl who had the ability to partially turn into a dragon, was in the nest she had made. To make matters worse, the dragon girl had been a frequent visitor to her cave, and whenever she left, the Hydreigon had found one or more of her babies dead. Out of her twenty-seven children, only three remained.

Matthew noticed as well, and just when Corrin was about to skewer one of the three babies in the nest, Matthew tackled her out of it, the three baby Deino listening in confusion, as they had no eyes to see the ongoing commotion. The Hydreigon appeared to be taken back as well, and Corrin stood up, baring her bloodstained fangs at Matthew before giggling, _"I wonder what_ human _tastes like_ _..."_

Matthew, though slightly disturbed, held the Sol Blade out in a defensive stance, having pieced together the whole situation once Corrin had made her presence known, and now he was determined to not let her get to the nest.

* * *

 **You know I teased it, but you didn't expect me to actually go through with it, now did ya? (and I ain't referring to Fawful)**

 **And just because I mentioned Young Link doesn't mean he'll be appearing anytime soon, _got it_? Good.**

 **To the best guest, happy (very) belated birthday.**

 **To LT Rex Cole, Jetman, Pocket Monsters Y Guy, and Hanafuda, thanks. Those words mean a lot.**

 **Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Villager, Rosalina, Simon, Daisy, Isaac, Geno, Samus, Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Mr. Game & Watch, Eight, Ike, Ken**

 **Group 2 (Frantic Factory/Smithy's Keep): Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Mii Swo** **rdfighter, Red, Falco, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, R.O.B., Pichu, King K. Rool, Luminary**

 **Group 3 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar, Bayonetta, Solo**

 **Group 4 (Shroob Castle): Mario, Bowser, Erdrick, Marth, Jigglypuff**

 **Group 5 (Puppet Fighters with known whereabouts): Meta Knight, Young Link**

 **Stay tuned.**


	34. Knights of the Round

_**"Why is that dog holding a sword in its mouth?!"**_

* * *

While everyone else stared at Artorias, Snake merely tightened his headband and pulled out some grenades, saying, "If we can't play his game, he's gonna be playing _mine_." Snake then began chucking grenades at the knight with reckless abandon, who merely stood there and weathered the assault of explosives, trying to figure out a strategy.

What took everyone by surprise was when Artorias caught one of the grenades out of the air and simply looked at it before throwing it back. While the grenade didn't reach Snake and the others, Snake stopped throwing grenades so frequently, only throwing one or two of them at a time out of caution. Eventually, Snake stopped throwing explosives altogether, and everyone else stood, weapons at the ready, as Artorias began a slow, unflinching walk towards them.

Solo attempted to get a quick strike in, but Artorias slammed his sword down onto Solo's shield when he raised it up in anticipation of a downwards slash, and much to Solo's shock, the Zenithian Shield was actually dented by the impact of Artorias' greatsword. A glob of Abyssal sludge right to the face sent Solo sliding backwards, and he quickly began to claw the goop off his face. Looking into a nearby bush, Artorias suddenly stabbed his sword right into the shrubs, and when he pulled out the blade, it was revealed that he had skewered another ReDead on his greatsword. With an almost feral snarl, he flung the corpse at the group, but that was blown to bits courtesy of a Charge Shot from Mega Man, who, despite being clearly rattled by Artorias, stood his ground. Switching weapons to the Yamato Spear, a purple lance materialized in his hand, and he threw it with all his might at the advancing knight.

The spear had struck Artorias in his left shoulder, causing him to let out a surprisingly human-like grunt of pain compared to the bestial roars from earlier, but he still yanked the lance out of his shoulder and threw it back at Mega Man, not caring about potential damage or the bluish-black sludge that was leaking from his wound. Artorias then lunged forward with a stab, almost impaling Mega Man, before doing a somersault and bringing his greatsword down on Cloud's Buster Sword, adding a notably deep notch into the sword. As Cloud darted backwards, Artorias then somersaulted forwards again, and this time he managed to catch Cloud on his right arm, leaving a somewhat deep gash on the ex-SOLDIER's right arm. Cloud dropped the Buster Sword, clutching his arm in extreme agony, before trying to cast Curaga with his now shaky left hand.

Dr. Mario jumped off of Incineroar's head and delivered a meaty stomp right to Artorias' helmet, before rolling out of the way and assuming a combat stance, his lab coat having splotches of black and blue. Artorias whirled around, his helmet now having a dent, and he roared before doing a quick circular slash in the good doctor's direction. Stefano barely managed to avoid the attack, and he watched as Artorias prepared to swing his sword, only for him to look to his back and bring his sword down on something.

Joker, meanwhile, was quickly fixing a new hook onto his grappling pistol, having used his previous one to distract the corrupted knight, and he balked upon seeing Artorias rear back, preparing to throw his blade at the Phantom Thief. However, Artorias ended up being punched in the back by Dr. Mario, and the electricity coursing through his armor forced the knight down to one knee, relying on his sword for support. His breathing getting slightly heavier, Artorias roared, _" **RRAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!** " _before thrusting his sword behind him, and the gasp of pain from Dr. Mario confirmed to him that he was no longer a factor. The Abyss' influence suddenly left, and Artorias, having just clutched at his head, stopped and picked up his sword before starting to walk away, having no intention to harm the group of travelers... only for him to scream in agony once again and leap towards the Smashers, managing to land a few wild slashes on Bayonetta before attempting to skewer Wolf as if he was planting a sword into its scabbard. Artorias took another step forward... and an explosion went off right underneath him.

Snake, having planted landmines across the field, took a quick breath before clicking his detonator. The C4 he had tossed onto Artorias earlier suddenly exploded, and he was blown off his feet, planting onto the ground face-first. Using his sword as a support, Artorias then brought himself back up to his feet and said, _"Soon... I will be consumed... by_ them _, the Dark..."_

Snake, pointing his SOCOM at the knight, could only raise an eyebrow in confusion, before feeling a searing pain in his gut. Looking down, he saw that Artorias had completely run through him, and the knight yanked his sword out of the mercenary, causing Snake to collapse and begin to bleed out.

Artorias, the Abyss having once again left for a fleeting moment before returning, stood up and roared at a frightened Wolf, who still had not fully recovered from almost being turned into a shish-kebab. As Artorias was focused on both Joker and Wolf, Cloud snuck up behind him and dragged Snake away from the vicinity of the knight, trying his best to prevent Snake from dying of blood loss.

Coughing out blood, Snake groaned, "Hey Blondie, are we gonna win?"

Cloud tried his hardest to keep his voice even as he used Curaga, saying, "We're going to win. You're going to be okay."

Snake grimaced, replying, "I shouldn't have lived for as long as I did... I suppose dying to save the world isn't a bad way to go out."

The wound began closing up, and some color began returning to Snake's skin, causing Cloud to sigh in relief and say, "Get some rest. We'll finish the fight."

Cloud hid Snake behind a rock and shot a Blizzaga at Artorias, the ice chilling his armor and making him walk slower than he already was. However, the ice had no effect on the speed of his attacks, and he still managed to reach Wolf, albeit only stabbing through his jacket, which made Wolf almost fumble his Blaster in shock before firing a few lasers and retreating. Now behind a bush, Wolf began desperately rummaging through his jacket for a different, more lethal laser cartridge, and upon finding the one he needed, he hurriedly tossed out his old one and jammed the new one into his gun before peeking out of the bush and firing at Artorias, who was currently fighting Joker.

Joker vaulted over Artorias, before firing a rainstorm of bullets at the knight. The bullets seemed to do nothing to Artorias, and he did an outwards slash, flinging a pool of Abyssal sludge at Joker and forcing him to throw his arms up. That gave Artorias the opportunity he needed, and he began quickly charging up magic for the same powerful explosion he had used against Bayonetta earlier. Wolf's blaster bolt managed to catch Artorias' left arm, and he immediately whirled around to look for the source of the attack while simultaneously thrusting his sword backwards to make sure Joker wouldn't get any funny ideas. However, that did not deter the leader of the Phantom Thieves, as he sidestepped the blade thrust and quickly scaled Artorias' back in a matter of seconds before shouting, "Show me your true form!" and attempting to rip off the knight's helmet.

Artorias simply planted his sword in the ground and plucked Joker off his back as if he were an annoying pest, and, after looking at his surroundings, he flung Joker into a nearby rock with a terrifyingly brutish roar. Picking up his sword, Artorias then turned back to Wolf, and the lupine mercenary looked like he was going to die of fright.

Before Artorias could take a step forward, however, he noticed something sticking out from another rock, and he leapt up and drove his sword into the stone like he was wielding the Excalibur of legends past, revealing the same person he had run through earlier.

Snake, clutching at his stab wound, brought himself back to his feet while also unholstering his SOCOM. Desperately backing up, fear was present in the mercenary's eyes as he took shot after shot at Artorias, trying his best to shoot at the gaps in the knight's armor. Stepping onto a clod of soft dirt, he kicked that up at Artorias, momentarily distracting the knight, and Snake tossed a C4 brick into the hole before hastily planting a landmine on top. The moment Artorias stepped on the landmine, it exploded, followed by Snake quickly detonating the C4 immediately after and getting the hell out of dodge. When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that some parts of Artorias' armor had been blown clean off, particularly that of his right arm, revealing a somewhat human arm that was tainted with waves of black-and-blue sludge pouring off it.

Trudging forwards, Artorias then jumped up upon seeing a flash of color in a tree, followed by him planting the sword into the tree with killing intent. However, the Piranha Plant fell out of the tree just as Artorias drove his sword through it, reducing the tree to splinters. The Piranha Plant began by first spitting a cloud of potent poison at Artorias, but the knight simply stood in the cloud of toxic mist, completely unfazed. Now fishing for a Long-Stem Strike, the plant hopped behind a log, extending its neck with surprising speed and force, reminiscent of its Elasto-Piranha cousins. However, before it could take a bite out of Artorias, the knight caught the stem of the plant, fully intending to choke the life out of it.

As the Piranha Plant was slowly getting asphyxiated, however, it spat a desperation fireball right at Artorias' face, forcing the knight to drop it, and the plant took cover behind the leaf, examining its bruised stem.

Artorias then focused his wrath on Greninja, Incineroar, and Captain Falcon, kicking off the fight by flinging a puddle made up of the sludge that had pooled at his feet at the three of them, causing them to scatter. Incineroar shot a Flamethrower at Artorias while Greninja tried tripping him up with Grass Knot. Artorias seemed to shrug off the stream of fire like it was nothing, while the Grass Knot withered and died in the Abyssal sludge. Greninja climbed up a tree to gain a tactical advantage, while Incineroar picked up some rocks to Fling at Artorias, leaving Captain Falcon to face the fallen knight.

Artorias swung his sword in an upwards motion before throwing more sludge at Captain Falcon, and the bounty hunter was forced to retreat a short distance to avoid being hit by both. Charging back in, he hit Artorias with a shoulder tackle, and narrowly avoided a sword thrust from the knight. Jumping up, Falcon hit Artorias in the chest with a Knee Smash, pushing the knight a good distance back. Artorias then somersaulted forward to bring his sword down on Captain Falcon, but the bounty hunter dodged before landing a fiery backhanded punch to his side, causing Artorias to grunt in pain while more of his armor broke off.

For one fleeting moment, the black clouds around him dissipated, and Artorias, facing Captain Falcon, said in a pained whisper, _"Thou art strong, human, surely thine kind are more than pure Dark..."_ Artorias appeared vulnerable, almost human in that state, scared of what he had become, but before he could do anything else, the Abyss took control of him yet again, and Artorias began charging up energy for his magic explosion attack, while unbeknownst to him, Solo had come from behind with a Metal Slash ready...

* * *

Matthew began the fight with a one-handed outwards slash, forcing Corrin to jump backwards and use her Dragon Lunge to try and impale Matthew where he stood. Sidestepping, the Adept, with some effort, thrust his left hand forwards, casting Thunderhead, and a bolt of lightning zapped Corrin, who was trying to charge up a Dragon Fang Shot. Managing to recover at a surprising speed, she whirled around, the Omega Yato's blades whirring like a chainsaw, which Matthew blocked with the Sol Blade. Baring her fangs in triumph, Corrin then reared back her left hand, aiming it right at the Deino nest.

Matthew saw her arm rearing back out of the corner of his eye, and he kicked her in her midsection to stop the attack. Corrin doubled over, and the two of them exited the blade lock before taking on offensive stances. His left arm having not fully healed, Matthew hefted his sword up with his right hand and took a wild swing at Corrin, who dodged before trying to shoot a baby Deino with a Dragon Fang Shot.

Before she could fire, however, Corrin was blasted by a pulse of energy that erratically zig-zagged across the cave, and when Matthew looked back, he saw that the Hydreigon was staring at Corrin with a focused look of intense hatred. Snarling, the Brutal Pokémon fired another Dragon Pulse at Corrin, who blocked it using Counter Surge, sending up a pool of water which blasted Matthew back with surprising force. Propping himself back up, Matthew unleashed a smaller version of Megiddo, sending the miniature ball of fire straight at Corrin, who retaliated with a fully charged Dragon Fang Shot. When the two attacks collided, a massive explosion blanketed the entire cave in a thick layer of steam, temporarily blinding all three combatants.

Undeterred, Matthew raised his left hand and used Hurricane, dispelling the fog with a powerful, swirling gust of wind. The Hydreigon used Earth Power in an attempt to catch Corrin off guard, but she jumped over the underground explosions and brought the Omega Yato down on Matthew, the serrated blade leaving a nasty, jagged cut on his right arm.

Almost dropping the Sol Blade in pain, Matthew instead sheathed his sword and began casting Potent Cure on his wound, which seemed to heal him, though not as much as he would've expected. With an annoyed and pained sigh, he took out one of his four Waters of Life and used the golden drop of dew on his cut, which instantly sealed the wound and reinvigorated him. Taking out the Masamune, he began by unleashing a quick Rising Dragon, which much to his chagrin, seemed to do nothing to Corrin, who grounded Hydreigon with several slashes of her sword followed by a Dragon Lunge to two of her wings, forcing her to land in the nest in a defensive position. Pinning Matthew to the ground with another Dragon Lunge which narrowly missed his foot, only managing to pin the tip of his left boot, Corrin did a lunge kick from her elevated position, knocking Matthew to the ground, followed by her mounting him, fangs bared in ecstasy, as she giggled, _"Time for a taste!"_

His eyes widening in panic, Matthew kicked away and assumed a defensive stance, though not before Corrin took a bite out of his left leg, leaving a gash on there. Staggered, the Adept fell to one knee with a gasp of pain and tried to keep the half-Silent Dragon girl away from him through rapid, unfocused swipes with the Tisiphone Edge, managing to prop himself back up to his feet with some effort. Now backed up to the nest, Matthew tried a last-ditch Carpet Bomb, but he had run out of Psynergetic Power.

Just as Corrin prepared to run him through, the Hydreigon clamped onto Corrin's shoulder with an armor-crushing Crunch, and parts of Corrin's armor cracked before she forced the dragon off her with a jab from the Omega Yato. The Brutal Pokémon then began a demonstration of why its classification as a psuedo-legendary Pokémon was justified, first with a hard hit with Iron Tail, followed by a devastating Tri Attack, the three heads spitting out torrents of fire, ice, and lightning. Corrin dodged both the lightning and ice, but got hit with the fire, pushing her closer to the exit of the cave. The Hydreigon kept up the assault with a powerful Dark Pulse, and Corrin was finally pushed out of the cave. The Brutal Pokémon capped off the assault by trapping Corrin in a Rock Tomb, giving way to the coup de grâce: Draco Meteor.

Charging a ball of energy in its mouth, the Hydreigon sent it up into the air, where it exploded, sending several Golem-sized meteors directly at Corrin, who had no way to avoid the attack due to being trapped within the rocks, and she was forced to endure several large meteors falling either right on her or in her general vicinity, decisively knocking her out.

Matthew limped over to the rock ring and raised his hands in a placating gesture, trying his best to signal, "I'll take her away once I leave..." Surprisingly, the Hydreigon seemed to understand what he said, and flew back into her cave. Limping back into the cave, Matthew saw that the three baby Deino were looking at him expectantly, and he rummaged through his knapsack before pulling out a pouch of Kaochan dumplings, passing one to each of the three, which they dug into with gusto.

The three Deino then squealed with happiness, one of them even headbutting Matthew affectionately, and he nervously laughed, happy to see that they were doing fine. The Hydreigon, having observed what the human had done for her children, let out a low rumble of approval, and Matthew walked away from the cave to dig Corrin out of the rocks, albeit with an air of reluctance. Once he got a hold of her hand, he pulled her out, and Corrin, upon her vision re-focusing, looked at Matthew's numerous cuts and wounds and asked, "Did I do that to you?"

Matthew nodded mutely, and Corrin profusely apologized in response, repeating, "I'm sorry!" over and over.

Matthew simply replied with, "Wait here," before hobbling back into the cave and requesting a lift from the Hydreigon, who complied, and soon, Matthew and Corrin were riding on the back of the Hydreigon to find the others.

Once they found the others thanks to a large explosion, Matthew pointed to where it had come from, and the Hydreigon came in for a landing. Dismounting, Matthew stroked the Brutal Pokémon on its neck, and the Hydreigon purred contentedly, before shooting a glare at Corrin, who only stared in a confused fashion. Matthew watched as the Hydreigon flew back to its cave, and behind him, Snake asked, "Care to explain?"

Matthew looked back in surprise, and answered, "It's a long story... anyways, is the knight gone?"

"Not quite... I got run through, and Douglas is dealing with that Artorias guy over there." Snake jerked a thumb in the direction he was referring to while lifting his other hand to reveal the scar he had gotten from the stab. Looking at Corrin, he remarked, "I don't think I've seen you before..."

* * *

Bowser reset the timer, a whole hour having passed, and Erdrick peered out into the hallway, seeing a small group of Shroobs walk by without noticing them. Looking at Marth, he gave an 'all clear' signal before getting startled by Jigglypuff. Putting a hand to his chest, Arvus muttered, "Geez, that really scared me..."

Marth took a look at his left arm, and asked himself, "How is this stuff going to go away?"

From the monitor, Mario answered, _"Baby tears."_

"Funny joke, Mario-"

 _"No, I'm-a serious. That's their weakness."_

"Well, where are we going to find a baby?"

Erdrick looked outside the door again, and he whispered to the group, "Hey, does that kid over there count?"

Raising an eyebrow, Marth walked over to Arvus and looked outside, where he saw a possessed Lucas nervously walking down the stairs, his purple eyes filled with both fear and uncertainty as he mumbled, _"Just a nightmare, it's just a nightmare..."_

Erdrick looked at Marth with an expression of concern, and Marth sighed in a sympathetic fashion, explaining, "Lucas... has had a hard life. I'd say he's endured more hardship than any of us except for probably Snake."

"How so?"

Counting off his fingers, Marth began, "His brother, Claus, was taken by Porky Minch's Pigmask Army, and that was shortly after his mother had been killed by a dragon."

"Oh..."

"His entire journey culminated with him facing his brother, who had become an emotionless cyborg in the service of Porky. While he did manage to break through to his brother towards the end of the battle, tragically, Claus had decided that the only escape from the torture of the Pigmask Army was... was through..."

Arvus knew what Marth was going say, and he finished with, "Death."

Marth nodded while audibly swallowing the lump in his throat, wiping tears out of his one good eye. The sound of the door creaking open, however, caused Marth, Arvus, and Jigglypuff to swiftly swivel around to look at what could possibly be there, only to see Lucas, his eyes wide in alarm. Arvus quickly snatched the kid while Jigglypuff quietly closed the door before using Flash, lighting up the room.

Shaking in fear, Lucas watched as the disfigured Marth slowly approached him, and he asked, _"Wh-what do you want with me?"_

Kneeling down, Marth gently placed his right hand on Lucas' shoulder and audibly whispered, "Lucas... it's me, Marth."

 _"Why am I here?"_

Marth gently shushed him, continuing, "I know that losing Claus was hard for you... but _please_ remember, you're not alone. You have many people and friends to talk to, a majority of us are no strangers to loss."

Lucas hiccuped, his eyes rapidly flickering between purple and their normal black, and he whimpered, _"Does it matter? I'm worthless to you anyways..."_

Much to his surprise, however, Marth pulled him into a hug, whispering, "You had to do things that most of us wouldn't dream of doing... you're just as important as any other person in the tournament." Squeezing tight, Marth continued, "You're a brave kid, and I hope you see that we all care for you."

The last vestiges of purple vanished from Lucas' eyes, and he buried his face in Marth's cape. Marth could only pat him on the back as he listened to Lucas' muffled sobs, Arvus and Jigglypuff watching with looks of sympathy on their faces.

Bowser, looking at the timer, muttered, "Forty-five minutes left..."

Once Lucas had finally let it all out, he gave Marth a watery smile and said, "Thank you."

The heartwarming moment was interrupted with a knock on the metal door, followed by the chatter of the Shroob language. Everyone in the room froze, staring at the door, while Mario began working harder to get the database downloaded. Arvus and Marth held their swords at the ready, while Lucas and Jigglypuff readied a PK Freeze and a Rollout respectively.

The door slowly slid open, and an RC Shroober walked in, only to be swiftly toasted by a gout of flames from Bowser. Arvus and Marth quietly closed the door, and Marth asked, "Any progress so far, Mario?"

 _"I'm-a getting close to done."_

"Good, just a little bit more and then we can cont-"

However, the chattering noise outside the door increased in both frequency and volume, and Bowser took one look at the door before retreating into his shell.

Marth spluttered, "Wha- Bowser, what are you doing?!"

Arvus had his sword and shield at the ready, prepared to go down swinging. Keeping a steady gaze fixed onto the door, he whispered, "Come and get me, you alien bastards..."

 _"And-a done!"_

Mario hopped out of the computer, only to find Marth, Arvus, Jigglypuff, and Lucas facing the door, which was being pounded by something, and when he looked over to where the timer was, he saw that Bowser had retreated into his shell. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Mario stood on a desk and ignited his fists, preparing himself for a fight.

The door was then blasted off its hinges, and Mario got a good look at the _massive_ horde of Shroobs waiting outside. Suppressing a small wave of fear, the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom looked back to see Bowser having emerged from his shell, now wearing the sharp claws that he had utilized in the Strikers tourney. Bowser gnashed his teeth together into a knowing grin, and Mario nodded back, saying, "It's-a-"

" _ **SHOWTIME!**_ "

Bowser leapt into the fray, slashing and hacking his way through the sea of Shroobs as if they were made out of paper. Mario then generated a fireball in his hands, which gradually grew in size, before running out of the room and dunking it onto the army of aliens like it was a basketball, causing a massive explosion which propelled Mario towards the stairs that led to the exit of the dungeon.

Arvus took one look at the gaggle of Shroobs before him before using Kaswoosh to lift himself, Marth, and Lucas over the field of aliens, while behind him, Jigglypuff simply floated over them and towards Mario, who had broken into a full-on Olympic sprint, Bowser not far behind.

Marth hit the ground running, while Arvus threw Lucas ahead before turning to face the somewhat smaller army of Shroobs, who stared at the legendary hero, their eyes filled with murderous intent. His grip tightening on his sword, Arvus put his shield on his back before growling, "You want them? You'd better get through _me_." Jumping into the crowd of Shroobs, Arvus used Magic Burst, expending all of his magical power to wipe out a massive amount of the aliens, before going to town on them with wild, somewhat unrefined strikes, with the intent of building his magic back up. Jabbing his sword backwards, he heard something slide off it, before turning around and doing an outward slash. Arvus then used Bounce, and a barrier of magical energy erected itself around him, causing the lasers that the Shroobs fired to be bounced back at them. Arvus bashed another Shroob with his shield before performing a swift kick, taking out a Shroob that was behind him.

Looking behind him, much to his chagrin, he saw that the army had replenished its numbers in almost no time at all, now chattering triumphantly. Retreating, Arvus noticed that there was a particular portion of the ceiling which looked weaker than the rest. Muttering to himself, "Looks like I've got no other option..." Arvus bellowed, " _KAMIKAZEE!_ " and his body glowed with a golden light before exploding, causing the ceiling to rumble and collapse in front of him, sealing the dungeons away from the rest of the castle.

Mario and the others looked back upon hearing a massive explosion, and Marth cautiously walked down the stairs, only to find Arvus struggling to get back to his feet, the last-ditch Kamikazee having completely drained him. Arvus brought himself back up to his feet, only to nearly collapse, and Marth hoisted him up, walking him back to the others.

* * *

Isaac whispered to Ike, "Who is this guy?"

Ike's curt, guarded response was, "The Black Knight."

"Is he... in charge of this castle or something?"

Simon, who had somehow overheard them, shook his head, saying, "I have never seen this foe before in my life."

 _"Good. Then you shall know my name when I'm done with you._ _"_

The Black Knight began by using some Warp Powder to instantaneously teleport over to where the others were standing, and he pointed Alondite at them, saying, _"No interference."_

Eight's voice emerged from the crowd of Smashers, challenging, "And what if we do?"

Zelgius simply walked over to Eight, placed a hand on his shoulder, and used some more Warp Powder to teleport himself and the unruly hero away. Raising a hand, he erected the same magical barrier that he had used for his final showdown against Ike around himself and the other three swordsmen. Calmly placing both of his hands on the hilt of his sword, he coolly replied, _"Perhaps a demonstration is in order._ _"_

Moving with a surprising burst of speed, the Black Knight thrust Alondite towards Eight, only to be blocked by Ike's Ragnell. Looking up at him, Ike remarked, "Not a smart move, General." Ike then broke the blade lock, and he attempted to end the fight quickly with Aether, only to Zelgius to simply sidestep the blow and grab the young mercenary by the throat.

As Ike struggled in his grip, Eight used Zapple, sending a quick burst of lightning towards the knight... which harmlessly bounced off, causing Eight to exclaim, "What?!"

 _"My armor is blessed with the divine power of Ashera. You cannot possibly hope to stop me without... him."_ The Black Knight tightened his grip on Ike's throat for emphasis, and he dropped Ragnell. Eight's eyes widened in realization, and he snatched the sword off the floor before throwing all of his might into one slash, which actually staggered the Black Knight, causing him to drop Ike, who gasped out a quick expression of gratitude towards Eight before picking Ragnell back up, clutching at his bruised throat.

From the back, Isaac bellowed, " _Wild Growth!_ " and a massive tangle of vines snaked their way across the hall, wrapping themselves around the Black Knight's legs. Staring at Isaac, Zelgius cut some of the vines before using more Warp Powder, teleporting his way out of the vines and right in front of Isaac, his sword raised for a decisive blow. Isaac yelped, and leapt out of the way before unleashing a Titan Blade, and the massive Psynergetic construct of a sword dropped right on top of the Black Knight.

When the last of the energy faded, however, the Black Knight was revealed to be almost completely unharmed, causing Isaac's jaw to nearly drop in shock. Refocusing, the Adept switched to the Ronin class and used Avalanche, attempting to bury the knight under a rockslide. While the rocks did tumble around and on top of him, he simply cut his way out of the boulders, causing Isaac to look at Ike and exclaim, "How?"

Ike, keeping his gaze focused on the Black Knight, scowled and replied, "If a collapsing castle wasn't enough to keep him down, then I can't fathom what I've got to do now."

Isaac and Eight both balked at that and stammered, "A-an entire castle?!"

Ike only nodded, causing Eight to begin thinking about what to do, while Ike used Quick Draw in an attempt to rush Zelgius and take him down with swift attacks. Striking Zelgius with a quick outward slash, Ike followed up with a fast overhead swing, knocking the Black Knight back a good distance.

Tightening his grip on Alondite, the Black Knight stared at Ike before saying, _"Prepare yourself for a merciless slaughter, son of Greil."_

On the outside, Robin had unexpectedly shown up and began attacking the Smashers with blasts of Arcfire, only for Wario to slap one of the spells out of the air, much to her shock. Rosalina redirected the blasts of Elwind, while Luigi managed to channel the power of her desperation Thoron into his Thunderhand, greatly augmenting its might. Noticing an unsuspecting Mr. Game & Watch to her right, Robin attempted to use Nosferatu, only to have the tome snatched from her hand courtesy of Yoshi's prehensile tongue. Exclaiming in outrage, she swung at Yoshi with her Levin Sword, only for Ken to land a heavy crescent kick, sending her straight into Daisy's waiting fist, followed by Peach driving her frying pan into the back of the tactician's head, performing a makeshift con-chair-to. Giggling, Peach quipped, "Teamwork makes the dream work!"

With a whoop, Daisy exclaimed, "You know it, sis!" before giving Peach a high-five.

* * *

"Who are you?"

Chuckling, the voice responded, _"Why, I am Smithy, leader of the Smithy Gang!"_

As everyone else filed in, Ridley, who was lagging behind, noticed a lever that read 'Test Your Luck,' followed by an asterisk and a long block of text below it that he didn't even bother to read. Throwing caution to the wind, Ridley yanked the lever, and all of a sudden, Geno appeared next to him in a combat stance, saying, "Eat this, fie-"

Looking at Ridley, he relaxed and said, "Oh, it's you."

Thoroughly confounded, Ridley asked, "How did you even get here?"

"I don't know! One minute, I'm fighting with Samus against some weird magician girl... I think she said something about a... Fell Vessel or something?" Ridley only stared, his eyes narrowing at the mention of the Hunter as Geno continued, "The next moment, I'm suddenly in a factory with you!"

Rolling his eyes, Ridley grumbled, "Whatever," grabbing Geno by his cape and dragging him to the others, much to the puppet's chagrin. Taking a look around, Geno couldn't help but feel that something was... familiar about the place.

Meanwhile, Banjo was idly strumming a tune on his instrument as he walked, while behind him, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and King K. Rool were surprisingly deep in conversation, with Diddy holding up a sign that read, "It's so crazy that Banjo and Kazooie are back, honestly. I thought we'd never see them again after _that_ incident!"

Donkey Kong signed, "Yeah, it's real good to see them again after all these years. Star Spirits above, I missed them."

Huffing in a somewhat annoyed, yet amused way, King K. Rool said, "Would you two drop the act and start speaking already?! I'm personally more excited to see the Breegull back, she was a _hoot_! I wonder if the featherhead's still got it..."

Kazooie popped out of Banjo's backpack and shook a wing at them, snapping, "I'm not an owl, Pinkeye!"

After a moment of silence, the Kremling leader and the two Kongs burst out into peals of laughter.

Link and Zelda were walking right behind the Luminary, and Zelda looked at her hand, the golden shining triangle giving away her lineage to the goddess. Link looked at his own hand, which showed nothing, and he asked no one in particular, "How come mine isn't showing?"

Zelda took a look at his hand, and offered, "Perhaps it has to do with time?"

"Perhaps it does... I _was_ asleep for a century before waking up."

Meggy and Evan were vandalizing the walls of the factory before swimming up onto them, laughing with glee. Falco rolled his eyes, grumbling, "Teenagers... so annoying to deal with sometimes."

That was met by a displeased click of the tongue from Sonic, who said, "Hey, I'm right here, y'know!"

Meanwhile, Ridley caught up to the others with Geno in tow just as R.O.B. scooted past Sonic, with Pichu on his head giving directions as if she was commanding a ship. His teeth whirring, Ridley called out, "Hey, you wouldn't believe what the cat just dragged in!"

The former Space Pirate tossed Geno right in front of Banjo, but before he could say anything, a deep, booming voice said, _"You again... how did you come back from the Star Road?"_

That gave Geno the last clue he needed to know about his location, and, with the realization hitting him with the force of a Sledge attack, he cursed and exclaimed, "Smithy?!"

* * *

 **To the best guest, I think Hero's perfectly fine. The spells are w(h)ack, but his normals are slow, so that can be exploited.**

 **Thanks to everyone except for Sleepy Kong and Sean Healy for leaving reviews that actually made sense.**

 **Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Villager, Rosalina, Simon, Daisy, Isaac, Samus, Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Mr. Game & Watch, Eight, Ike, Ken**

 **Group 2 (Frantic Factory/Smithy's Keep): Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Mii Swo** **rdfighter, Red, Falco, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, R.O.B., Pichu, King K. Rool, Luminary, Geno**

 **Group 3 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar, Bayonetta, Solo, Corrin**

 **Group 4 (Shroob Castle): Mario, Bowser, Erdrick/Arvus, Marth, Jigglypuff, Lucas**

 **Group 5 (Puppet Fighters with known whereabouts): Meta Knight, Young Link**

 **Not in the mood to talk here, so stay tuned.**

 **P.S.: Fuck off, Healy.**


	35. Branded With Trauma

**Looking back, all the flack I caught for my decisions in _Everyone is HERE!_ seems kinda funny in hindsight.**

 **Oh, side note, this fic now has a TV Tropes page, so if anyone wants to check that out and make some edits, feel free to do so!**

 **Wolf, Puff, and Toon Link have altered roles in Subspace: Wolf was manipulated into serving Tabuu, Jigglypuff was one of the Smashers that was captured by Wario, and as for Toon Link? Well, you'll find out.**

 **Happy birthday to me! (turned 16 today)**

 **Anyways, here's Chapter 35!**

* * *

 _"Why yes, it is I, Smithy."_

"I thought we destroyed you years ago! How are you still alive?!"

 _"Thanks to the efforts of Lord Dharkon, the Smithy Gang lives once again! Now, would you like to see one of our... repurposed tools? And we're_ not _taking no for an answer._ "

As everyone pondered what Smithy could have possibly meant by that, something dropped from the ceiling before slowly transforming into a humongous, bipedal rhinoceros mecha. Galleom, his posture now in a similar fashion to Donkey Kong's, roared and beat his chest like a wild animal, which made Donkey Kong grumble, "Copyright infringement."

As everyone prepared to fight, no one noticed that Red had simply froze up, his eyes completely glazed over, flashbacks of the Subspace debacle coming back to haunt him...

* * *

 _"All right! Good job, Charizard!"_

 _Charizard roared in triumph, having finished Galleom off with a meaty Rock Smash. Returning Charizard, Red said to Lucas, "Quick, we should be getting out of- GAH!"_

 _Galleom had pounded one of his fists on the floor to dislodge several rocks, blocking the exit and leaving Red and Lucas trapped with the robot. Reaching out with his other arm, Galleom grabbed the two of them and ripped off the top part of his head, revealing a Subspace Bomb that was fifteen seconds away from detonating. Lifting off, he smashed through the ceiling of the ruins, unerringly focused on completing his task._

 _Red's eyes widened in fear, and he and Lucas tried their best to force themselves out, but the robot had an iron grip, and the two Smashers could only watch in horror as the timer on the Subspace Bomb ticked into single digits._

 _Overwhelmed and on the verge of what he thought was certain death, Red fainted, though not before hearing something being charged up right next to him..._

* * *

His legs finally being able to work again, Red ran... in the opposite direction of everyone else, which was only noticed by Toon Link, who ran after him.

Red backed himself up to the corner of the room and curled up in a ball, the source of his numerous nightmares having come back to him. On his belt, Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard's Poké Balls fell off once he made contact with the wall, and all three Pokémon materialized, looking at their trainer with concerned expressions on their faces. The three of them cautiously walked towards Red, but he flinched while shielding his face and also letting out a whimper.

Toon Link ran over to the four of them, and, after squeezing through Charizard and Ivysaur, he turned to Red before saying, "Red-"

"Stay away!"

" _Red-_ "

"No!"

" _RED!_ "

Slowly lowering his hands, Red saw that Toon Link was standing right in front of him, and the bearer of the Triforce of Courage offered a hand to him, which Red recoiled from.

Sighing, Toon Link began, "Look, I'm probably not the best person to talk to you about this kind of thing, but I'll try my best." Nervously kicking at the ground, he said, "I... was also lost in Subspace as well."

"Y-you were?"

"Yeah... I was in some kind of ruined castle trying to fight my way out before I heard the sound of a Subspace Bomb going off." Shuddering just from the thought of it, Toon Link continued, "I don't understand how Sonic managed to last as long as he did in there without going insane, Subspace almost broke me. It felt like I was stuck in a never-ending maze, and I kept hearing voices... particularly that of the Ganondorf from my timeline saying that my quest was pointless, until Mario found me."

Sitting down besides Red, Toon Link continued, "I was shaken up really badly by that whole debacle, but when I returned for the fourth tournament, Master Hand had issued mandatory therapy sessions for nearly everyone who had been caught up in that mess. The exceptions were Wario, Bowser, and Ganondorf because of them being roped into Tabuu's service, as well as Popo, Nana, Wolf, Snake, and... you, due to you guys not being here." Pausing, Toon Link continued, "Look, I get it, you had your own reasons for not coming back, I almost declined going back to the fourth tournament as well. But everyone who was involved in that mess also suffered a great deal, some of us more than others." Standing up and extending his hand to Red once again, he finished, "You're not alone in this. We will help you once we get out of this situation, _I swear on it_."

Looking up, Red, slowly getting more and more sure of himself, nodded and took his hand, saying, "Alright."

Toon Link smirked, and said, "Let's do this."

As the young hero charged into the fray, dodging a stomp from Galleom, Red whistled, causing his three Pokémon to quickly turn their heads towards their trainer. With a commanding aura which rivaled that of Lieutenant Surge back in Kanto, Red said, "Squirtle, help Link by providing distractions!" As Squirtle sped off towards Galleom, Red continued, "Ivysaur, I want you to provide support for Donkey Kong." As Ivysaur lumbered off, Red turned to Charizard and said, "Ready to let the destruction fly?"

Charizard roared before growling out, _"You know it!"_

As Red hopped on Charizard, he whispered, "Also, keep an eye on that Pichu, I want to know what its moves are."

Charizard nodded before taking off and shooting a Fire Blast at Galleom, which gave the robot four new targets to keep an eye on, those being Toon Link, Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard.

Galleom slammed his nuke-sized forearm down on Donkey Kong, but he managed to catch it, though not without some effort. However, Galleom began winning the battle of wills, and DK found that his feet were actually being pushed _into_ the floor, much to his alarm. Before Galleom could squish him, however, King K. Rool tackled him out of the position and bellowed, "GO AND HELP BANJO, YOU IDIOT!"

DK, though he was taken aback by the fact that K. Rool had just _saved_ him, looked up to see that Banjo was being chased around by six heat-seeking missiles, with Diddy Kong providing backup, though peanuts could only do so much against that salvo of weaponry. Throwing a Barrel Cannon onto the ground, Donkey Kong hopped in and aimed towards the missiles before firing, managing to destroy two of them. The remaining four turned their attention towards their newest target, freeing up Banjo, Kazooie, and Diddy Kong, and Donkey Kong quickly strapped on his bongo jetpack to fly to a perch where a smorgasbord of barrels were resting in an attempt to lose them.

As soon as DK saw what he was surrounded by, his eyes began gleaming with a sadistic delight, and Donkey Kong grabbed one barrel before reading the label, which said, 'TNT.' With a roar of triumph, Donkey Kong yelled, "Eat _this_!" before throwing the explosive barrel at Galleom, creating a massive explosion when the other four missiles intercepted it.

At the same time, K. Rool saw that a blue bomb had been rolled over to where he was standing, and after a quick glance to his right, where he saw Link motioning for him to get out of dodge, K. Rool did so before changing into his Baron K. Roolenstein persona, watching as Galleom crushed the Remote Bomb, resulting in an explosion which weakened the joints on its arm.

Using his Propellerpack to fly up to the robot's back, K. Roolenstein hovered over to it before delivering a meaty punch to one of his missile launchers, which only served to make him angrier. Galleom then blasted K. Roolenstein into the ceiling with a powerful uppercut, and K. Roolenstein reverted back to King K. Rool before falling from the implant he had made in the ceiling. Attempting to control his descent, he then landed on Galleom's back with a belly flop that shook the entire room due to the shockwaves from the impact.

Though he was slightly staggered by the blow, Galleom reached onto his back and plucked King K. Rool off of it as if he were an annoying pest, and he held him over his armpit region before unleashing a jet of steam from there, leaving some nasty burns on the reptilian monarch. Galleom then threw him into a nearby wall before turning his focus towards Ridley, Charizard (who had dropped Red off on the same perch as Donkey Kong), R.O.B., and Pichu, who was riding on R.O.B. in an attempt to get close. Firing a salvo of six missiles at the group, leaving them occupied, Galleom then turned his attention towards those on the ground, particularly the blue hedgehog who kept darting in and out of his reach in a manner that was becoming increasingly infuriating to him.

Sonic zipped past a forearm club attack, and, while running in place, he catcalled, "You're too slow!" That served to infuriate Galleom even further, and he lunged forward in an attempt to grab the Blue Blur, who dodged once again before doing a flip and saying, "Come on, step it up!" Sidestepping a stomp from Galleom, Sonic then ran up and along the wall, and the robot shot a salvo of a dozen missiles, which unerringly homed in on Sonic. Behind Sonic, Banjo provided support by jumping onto a missile and using Kazooie as if she were a shotgun to shoot down most of the other missiles, followed by him activating Wonderwing just before the missile he was riding on crashed into the wall.

Link was fighting alongside Falco, Zelda, and his cartoon counterpart, the princess providing ranged support with an assortment of spells, the two heroes going to town on the robot with wild slashes while Falco jumped off a wall before delivering a meaty drill stomp onto Galleom's face. The robot swatted Falco out of the air as if he were a fly, and, now stuck in the wall, Falco groaned, "Maybe the air's not that great..."

Galleom then managed to kick both Squirtle and Ivysaur away, the latter's Grass-type attacks basically having done nothing, and while Squirtle had managed to do more damage with Aura Sphere and Zap Cannon, Galleom was simply too bulky. Turning his attention towards Zelda, he then used one of the new modifications Smithy had given him: Water Blast.

With the glow of a blue spade coming over him, Galleom slammed both of his fists onto the floor, and cracks began running across the ground, geysers of water erupting with a massive hiss. Pulling out the Sheikah Slate, Link attempted to use the Cryonis rune to scale the geysers, but the sheer heat from the water—which was also emitting jets of steam—quickly melted whatever ice he generated, causing him to sigh in frustration and aim for another approach: shooting Galleom with Shock Arrows.

The first hit Galleom, and thanks to the residual water from his attack, he ended up being electrocuted from head to toe, convulsing in extreme agony. Taking out a Blizzard Rod, he launched a chilling gust of wind at Galleom, trapping the mech in a skintight prison of ice. The moment of relief was quickly gone, however, as cracks began forming all over the statue, and Galleom burst out almost instantly, releasing more steam from his vents.

Slamming one palm onto the ground, Galleom managed to make Link retreat, and the Hylian Champion threw a Lizal Tri-Boomerang in retaliation, which arced around the robot before smacking him in the face. Just as he reached out for Toon Link, however, he was bombarded by a large number of explosions, staggering him and forcing him down onto the ground.

Donkey Kong dusted his hands off in satisfaction, and picked up another barrel, keeping a close eye on Galleom.

Up above, Charizard managed to finally destroy the missile that had been chasing him with a well-aimed Inferno, Ridley had dodged his by letting it fly into the wall, and Pichu had used Volt Tackle to destroy hers, with R.O.B. having carefully placed her on top of his head once she had destroyed the missile before gently floating down to the ground.

Geno could only think to himself, _"How did that thing use Water Blast? That was Yaridovich's signature technique..."_ He was quickly shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of metal shifting, and he saw that Galleom had turned into some kind of jet-propelled tank.

Galleom then charged towards Zelda, but Link tackled her out of the way, causing Galleom to ram into a wall, simultaneously stunning himself while also causing Sonic to fall from the wall due to the impact. Landing on top of Galleom with a painful-sounding crunch, Sonic looked up to see some barrels precariously teetering from Donkey Kong's perch.

Up above, DK had noticed, and he was trying his best to make sure that none of the barrels fell from where he was at. Once he had stabilized everything, he wiped his forehead in relief.

Down on the ground, however, Galleom was _still_ not out for the count, and he began to rise up, only for Ryu to hit him in the head with a hard Shoryuken. Touching his mask, Galleom felt a slight dent, which was enough for him to go berserk, stomping around wildly while releasing large amounts of steam, and he jumped up, preparing to stomp on the large group of Smashers, who promptly scattered right before Galleom came in for a landing.

* * *

Whirling around, Isaac unleashed Squall, and much to his surprise, the Jupiter Djinni managed to actually hold the Black Knight in place, allowing Ike to land one hard swing with Ragnell before the effects wore off. Once Squall wore off, Zelgius slashed at Ike, who jumped away before hitting an overhead slash, pushing the Black Knight back a fair distance. Regaining his bearings, the Black Knight raised his sword, but was hit by a burst of dark energy, which did absolutely nothing.

Eight looked positively flabbergasted at the fact that Thwack didn't work, and he cupped his chin in thought, knowing that he wouldn't be able to keep the Black Knight away forever. To his left, Ike was chokeslammed by the Black Knight, and he dropped Ragnell thanks to the impact.

Holding Ike by the throat, underneath his helmet, Zelgius' eyes narrowed as he whispered, _"You will_ never _defeat me again."_

Just as Ike made a desperate grab for Ragnell, the Black Knight picked it up with his free hand, and mused, _"For you to meet your end by your own blessed blade... How ironic."_

Just as Zelgius raised the sword, Eight used Hocus Pocus two times, the first managing to slow down the Black Knight, but he had shrunk himself down to a minuscule size on the second attempt. Cursing in frustration, he waited until he grew back to normal size, but by that point, the slowing effect had already worn off. The Black Knight attempted to bring Ragnell down on Ike, but some thick vines were wrapped around his arm and neck, preventing him from lowering the blade for the killing blow.

Isaac's eyes were glowing a vivid green, due to his casting of Wild Growth which was causing vines to grow on the Black Knight's arm, and, in an unusually low tone of voice, he growled, "Not gonna happen." Clenching one of his fists, he tightened the vines' grip on the Black Knight, actually managing to wrench his arm back, albeit slightly.

Faced with a decision, Zelgius released Ike, though not before giving him a hard kick in the ribs, now recognizing the Adept and his powers as a potentially dangerous threat, and he grabbed Alondite to cut the off the vines that were wrapped around his arm. Now wielding both Ragnell and Alondite, he was about to use his Warp Powder to teleport towards Isaac, but the Adept used the vines from Wild Growth to snatch Alondite out of the Black Knight's hand.

Now armed with the blessed sword, Isaac stood and faced the towering figure, who was ironically wielding Ragnell, the same weapon that had brought about his own downfall many years ago. The Black Knight did an outward slash with Ragnell, but Isaac jumped over that before delivering a hard hit with Alondite, managing to crack a shoulderplate.

As the Black Knight attempted to regain his bearings, he heard the sound of metal scraping on metal, and, immediately realizing that it was coming from behind him, he jabbed Ragnell backwards, causing the scraping sound to stop.

Even with Metal Slash, Eight had a hard time cutting through the blessed armor, but he managed to cut through some of the armor on the Black Knight's upper back until he had attempted to stab him, revealing some sort of mark. His curiosity getting the better of him, Eight asked, "Hey, what's that?"

Much to his horror, Zelgius realized that the unruly hero had actually managed to cut through both his clothing and armor, which had exposed the mark on his back. The distraction had allowed Isaac to land a glancing blow with Alondite, cutting off part of the Black Knight's helmet and revealing both a purple glowing eye and part of a mop of blue hair. With a somewhat less collected look on his face than usual, Zelgius raised Ragnell and swung it towards Isaac, actually managing to hit the Adept and cracking his chestplate while also knocking him to the ground face-first. Marching over, Zelgius stomped on Isaac's sword hand as hard as he could, breaking it, and the Adept screamed in pain.

Looking at Ike, who was just barely standing while clutching at his ribs, Zelgius was about to warp over to him, with the intention of killing the mercenary where he stood, only for a harsh bolt of electricity to hit him right on his back, forcing Zelgius down to one knee. Whirling around, he stared at Eight with an expression of anger smoldering in his visible eye. Holding out his right hand, a Spirit Orb materialized in his palm, and he threw it at Eight.

Upon seeing the projectile and how it resembled Whack a great deal, Eight panicked and ducked under it. The Spirit Orb flew over his head... right before boomeranging back towards him.

* * *

Eight found himself on some sort of mountain, with a bridge that led to a cave which was shaped like a witch's head. Looking around in curiosity, he was almost hit by an orange which looked strangely blocky. Looking towards the source of the fruit, he saw that it had come from a white ape who was wearing a red tie and some sort of yellow ball wearing gloves and boots that resembled mitts. Tightening his bandanna, he dodged another orange just as the ape rushed him with the intention of landing some kind of jumping double axehandle. Eight sidestepped the blow, and hit Donkey Kong with an overhead slash which made a cracking noise, signaling a critical hit and launching the ape off the mountain and creating a massive explosion.

Turning his focus to the yellow ball, much to his surprise, he saw that it had faded away, leaving behind a glowing mass which had a large monkey standing on top of a tree inside it. Touching the Spirit Orb, Eight felt a slight lurch in his stomach as he was warped back to Dracula's Castle.

* * *

Now back in the makeshift arena, he saw that Ike was now wielding Alondite, though he was moving at a slower pace than he was normally due to his bruised ribs. Eight watched with an increasing sense of dread as Ike missed a two-handed overhead slash, followed by the Black Knight stabbing him through the back with Ragnell. On the ground, Isaac exclaimed in horror, having been good friends with Ike in the third tournament back when the former was an Assist Trophy, and Ike crumpled to the ground once Zelgius pulled the sword out of him. Looking at Isaac, Eight ran over and whispered, "You heal Ike, I'll distract him."

Isaac, though his eyes were clouded with pain, groaned out, "Got it..." as he propped himself back up with his left hand.

Eight saw that the Black Knight was about to pick up Alondite, and with a war cry, he threw his sword at the knight with all his might while yelling, " _METAL SLASH!_ "

The blade embedded itself right into the other half of Zelgius' helmet, narrowly scraping the side of his head and drawing some blood.

As Zelgius attempted to claw the blade out of his helmet, Eight scooped up Alondite, holding the sword with both of his hands.

The sound of clattering metal indicated that Zelgius had finally gotten the Dragovian King Sword out of his helmet, and with his stoic demeanor completely crumbling away, Zelgius brought Ragnell down on Eight with as much force as he could, though Eight blocked the blow.

Meanwhile, Isaac took a seat next to Ike and placed the mercenary's head on his lap, wincing in pain from what had just happened to his right hand. Raising a slightly shaky left hand, Isaac used Potent Cure, and Ike's ragged breathing steadied while his wound slowly began to close up, causing Isaac to sigh in relief at the fact that he would pull through.

* * *

Arvus gently waved off Marth once he brought him out of the dungeons, though he clearly wasn't ready to walk on his own again, having almost fallen over the moment Marth let go of him. Down on all fours, Arvus attempted to will himself back up once more, only to look up and see Lucas offering to help him up with his Rope Snake. Arvus quietly accepted and thanked him before asking, "So what can we do in this castle, anyways?"

Mario answered, "We-a need to stop the Shroobs before they can-a become a fully operational threat."

Bowser said nothing, his reasons being more personal.

Cupping a hand underneath his chin, Mario mused, "When I-a was here, it wasn't until the third floor where we-a could get inside the statue..." Making a decision, Mario threw his hammer at the ceiling, making a hole where his hammer had gone through. Using a Propeller Mushroom, he flew his way through the hole before making another hole in the ceiling of the second floor and flying through that. Bowser snorted, and jumped through both holes in rapid succession, while Arvus used Kaswoosh to blast himself through the ceiling, but he didn't stick the landing due to his exhaustion. Lucas threw Marth through the hole by using his Rope Snake, followed by him jumping up and using PK Thunder 2 to fly through the hole.

Once they all made their way through, Mario was about to lead them to the statue, only to be stopped by a strong blast of blue energy narrowly grazing his face.

Lucario stood in front of the Smashers, having been beaten and experimented on by the Shroobs to the point where his Aura was completely maxed out, growled, the Aura fueling him to the point where he was functioning like a zombie because of his badly battered state. Snarling like a rabid dog, Lucario began the fight with a dual Flash Cannon, and the Smashers were forced to dodge, lest they be mowed over by the concentrated beam of light.

Shooting a glare at Arvus, Lucario telepathically communicated, _"Hmph. You escaped Lord Dharkon's clutches quite early, did you not?"_

Arvus said nothing, and instead lunged forward with a Hatchet Man at the ready, though not as fast due to him having used Kamikazee three times in such a short time.

* * *

Artorias whirled around, whacking Solo with the flat of his greatsword in retaliation for slicing off some of his armor, only to get hit with a blast of stunning water. Corrin stood in front of the fallen knight, the Omega Yato whirring like a chainsaw. Corrin attempted to pin Artorias with Dragon Lunge, but the knight simply used his explosion attack when she got close, sending her flying into a tree.

Incineroar, with Wolf right next to him, flung a rock at Artorias, which seemed to catch the knight's attention. As he roared at the two of them, Incineroar rolled his eyes, thinking, _"I don't have time for this."_ All of a sudden, he grabbed Wolf by the tail, causing the bounty hunter to let out a startled yelp as Incineroar used Fling, throwing Wolf as if he were a baseball.

Artorias could barely react as the ballistic canine landed a hard kick followed by a nasty slash, which staggered him and somehow managed to knock him out of his Abyss-possessed state. Artorias, in his delirium, looked at Wolf and murmured, _"Sif?"_

Wolf responded with a hard kick to Artorias' chestplate before hurriedly running away and giving Incineroar a hard punch to the face, demanding, "What was that for?!"

Before Incineroar could answer, however, a feral roar close by indicated that Artorias had transformed back into an Abyss-fueled killing machine, and the two of them assumed combat stances, only for Matthew to rush Artorias with a hard swing from the Sol Blade. Artorias blocked the swing and leapt right at Matthew with a somersaulting slash. Matthew dodged, though the short adrenaline burst that had fueled him earlier was slowly fading away, causing his limp to be more apparent than it already was. Artorias noticed, and he did an outward slash, flinging Abyssal sludge at Matthew, who could only stand there and block it due to his limp, and Artorias jumped up and attempted to drive his sword into the Adept, who dodged while also wiping off the sludge, which was beginning to eat away at his jacket.

Artorias was about to do another somersault slash, but an explosive hit him in the back, causing him to look around for the source. Mega Man whistled, holding a Hyper Bomb in his right hand, and Artorias snarled before giving chase.

Meanwhile, in a nearby tree, Snake sighed in relief while holding his Nikita, reminding himself to thank Mega Man later.

However, Artorias had seen Snake in the trees, and he sent two Spirit Orbs in both Snake and Cloud's direction, catching the former off guard while the latter merely sighed and raised his Buster Sword in resignation.

* * *

Snake found himself back on Shadow Moses Island, with Metal Gear REX letting out an earpiercing screech at nothing in particular. As the Metal Gear romped away, Snake began to wonder who could've possibly inhabited the Spirit Orb he was in until he heard, _"Ah, so we meet again, brother!"_

Finding himself facing a blond version of himself who was wearing leopard-print camouflage who was also accompanied by a male version of the dragon girl that sounded _exactly_ like Liquid, Snake internally groaned, thinking to himself, _"You've got to be shitting me."_

* * *

Meanwhile, Cloud found himself in Midgar, facing a pink-haired Robin who was both not wearing her bulky coat and holding a Levin Sword that had a Super Scope fused onto it. Cloud, eyeing the weapon with interest, asked, "Let me get this straight. Your sword has a _gun_ on it?" At the same time, he thought to himself, _"Vincent would probably love a weapon like that..."_

Shrugging, Robin merely slung her sword over her shoulder and replied, _"I'm Lightning Farron. And you are?"_

"Cloud Strife, ex-SOLDIER."

 _"Very well, then. May the best swordsperson win."_

Cloud, expecting Robin to still be burdened with sluggish movement, was caught off guard when she blitzed right past him, her Levin Sword leaving a trail of electricity in her wake.

* * *

 **Big thanks to the best guest, Eggs, and Rie for leaving reviews, they're always appreciated.**

 **Now... I do have an announcement to make.**

 **This story will be going on hiatus for an indeterminate amount of time for a couple of reasons. For starters, writing these last few chapters has _not_ been good for me mentally, and I think some time off from this story will be the air freshener that I need.**

 **Secondly, I want to put more focus on other works of mine, such as _Golden Sun: The Lunar Calamity_ (check it out if you wish), and _maybe_ restart that _Tales of the Mushroom World_ series (on a grander scale, perhaps as an entirely interconnected Nintendoverse) without having to go through all the origin stuff at first. Pokémon in particular is something that I wish to branch out into, and perhaps you'll find one more little thing from me for this fandom (Hints: Keys, Light, Darkness, Omake) before I take my vacation.**

 **Stay awesome, and be sure to check out some of the better writers this fandom can offer! (e.g.: Rie Sonomura, TheMaud, and Crystal Rose of Pollux)**

 **Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Villager, Rosalina, Simon, Daisy, Isaac, Samus, Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Mr. Game & Watch, Eight, Ike, Ken, Robin**

 **Group 2 (Frantic Factory/Smithy's Keep): Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Mii Swo** **rdfighter, Red (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), Falco, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, R.O.B., Pichu, King K. Rool, Luminary, Geno**

 **Group 3 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar, Bayonetta, Solo, Corrin**

 **Group 4 (Shroob Castle): Mario, Bowser, Erdrick/Arvus, Marth, Jigglypuff, Lucas**

 **Group 5 (Puppet Fighters with known whereabouts): Meta Knight, Young Link, Lucario**

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED...**_


	36. An End for a Tortured Soul

**I guess I came back a month earlier than I was supposed to.**

 **Be sure to join Raeror's Discord server, Super Smash Prose, where you can discuss your _Smash_ stories and whatnot with other writers from all corners of the Internet!**

 **With all of that done, here's Chapter 36!**

* * *

Isaac, with some effort, pried off the glove on his right hand before rolling up the sleeve on his now shattered hand and forearm. His left hand shaking, he used Potent Cure, and he winced as he felt his bones gradually snap themselves back into place.

Pushing himself off the ground, Isaac hoisted Ike up and slung one of the mercenary's arms around his shoulder, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eight giving a now enraged Black Knight the fight of his life, the former managing to take advantage of the latter's unusually aggressive movements by weaving out of the way of heavily telegraphed strikes and trying to cut through the Black Knight's armor bit by bit so he could actually get a solid hit in on his unprotected skin.

As the Black Knight's strength began to wane, so did the strength of the magical barrier he had erected, which was slowly beginning to flicker in and out of existence.

Outside of the barrier, Luigi noticed that the barrier was beginning to fail, and he ran towards it in spite of Peach's protests. They were now down one person, as Geno had been warped out of Dracula's Castle when a stray spell from Robin had blasted him into a nearby statue.

Mr. Game & Watch beeped out, "Wait, Luigi!"

As Luigi turned around, he saw that Game & Watch was spinning an oil-filled bucket—which he had filled up completely with a single Thunder from Pikachu—on his left hand like a basketball. The two-dimensional man tossed it towards Luigi, who nearly dropped it, as the bucket had suddenly gained a third dimension the moment it touched Luigi's hand, causing Mr. Game & Watch to sheepishly shrug and say, "I don't know why the stuff I hold is that inconsistent..."

Luigi took it in stride, and was about to run over to where Ike and the others were, only for Wario to speed right past him and shoulder tackle the weakened barrier full-force, shattering it completely.

Meanwhile, Eight had finally managed to strike with both a combination of Zapple and Gigaslash (using Alondite), the former forcing the Black Knight onto one knee and the latter ripping through even more of his armor while also mortally wounding him.

Zelgius stared at the thin slash that had appeared across his chest for a brief moment before slumping backwards, dropping Ragnell in the process.

Isaac, meanwhile, hoisted Ike over to Eight, who was standing over the Black Knight's dying body. Isaac watched as Eight passed both Ragnell and Alondite over to Ike, saying, "I believe these belong to you..."

Ike sheathed Ragnell, and was about to place Alondite next to Zelgius, only for him to say, _"Take it."_

"Huh?"

Zelgius, his eyes having returned to their normal color, coughed up some blood and repeated, _"Take it... take Alondite with you. The divine swords of Ashera are meant to be reunited."_

"I..." Ike heard a final sigh come from Zelgius, and, out of respect—however much respect one could muster for their father's killer—he closed Zelgius' eyes and took the sheath, slinging it over his back while Ragnell's sheath was clipped onto his belt.

After a moment of silence, Ike walked down the hallway, and everyone else followed suit until a sudden chill came over the area.

Every candle in the hallway was snuffed out by a cold gust of wind, and a flash of lightning illuminated the dark hallway, causing Luigi to scream in fear.

Floating in front of the Smashers was a cloaked figure who was wielding a scythe. Much to their bewilderment, however, the figure ignored them completely and instead hovered over to where the corpse of the Black Knight was located, and with a simple tap utilizing the scythe, a Spirit Orb was harvested out of Zelgius' body, which disappeared into the being's cloak.

Luigi, his hands shaking worse than a Boo who had been caught in the act, dropped his flashlight, and the clatter attracted the figure's attention, who slowly turned around, revealing a skeletal face with fiery eyes underneath his cloak.

By then, Luigi had lost his nerve, and he attempted to make a break for the exit, only for a wall of blue fire to roar all around the Smashers, effectively trapping them.

Simon, his expression unreadable, said, "That is the Grim Reaper, or 'Death' if you want to be simple. He reaps the souls of the damned and takes them to the-"

 _"Silence, Simon Belmont."_ Snapping his skeletal fingers, a beaten and bloodied Richter Belmont and _his_ Vampire Killer materialized in Death's other hand. Rasping in a horrible voice, Death continued, _"_ This _Belmont was amazingly resilient... until he ran into me."_ Some of the bones on Death's right hand snapped off and began lifting the Vampire Killer from a barely stirring Richter's belt, much to the disgust of the others.

The Smashers' disgust instantly turned to horror when the bones began to fasten the Vampire Killer around Richter's neck like a noose, and Death continued, _"I actually have two things to do; end your accursed bloodline..."_ Death then pointed to Luigi and Wario, and as his eyes lit up once more, he furiously howled, _"...and claim the souls of these two, who have evaded my clutches for far too long!"_

By then, Simon had heard enough, and he cracked the Vampire Killer forward in an attempt to pulverize Death's skeletal jaw, catching the reaper off guard and forcing him to drop the other Belmont.

Richter crashed onto the floor, the holy whip still wrapped tightly around his neck, and he began clawing at it in an attempt to get it off.

Peach had noticed, and she ran across the hallway, dodging ballistic scythes and flaming skulls to reach Richter. Looking at his neck, which was slowly beginning to bruise, Peach quietly and gently reassured him, saying, "Don't worry... I'll get it off." Looking at his eyes, Peach saw that they were not the purplish hue that she had seen in Robin's before they had fought her earlier, and she breathed a quick sigh of relief before slowly loosening up the Vampire Killer and sliding it over Richter's head.

Once the weapon had finally come off, Richter let out a huge gasp, before taking heavy breaths and feeling at his bruised neck. Looking up, he saw his ancestor along with a man in yellow-and-purple clothing fighting the Grim Reaper. Grasping for his Vampire Killer, Richter was about to charge into the fight, only to be stopped by the woman in the pink dress, who said, "I'm sorry, but I have to make sure you're fully healed before you can fight again..."

* * *

Pulling himself together, Red, a fierce look having made its way onto his face, fidgeted with his hat and called out, "Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard!"

The three Pokémon looked at their Trainer, who pumped his fist outwards and yelled, "Hydro Cannon, Frenzy Plant, and _BLAST BURN_!"

Squirtle condensed a large amount of water into a single orb and fired it right at Galleom, drenching the cyborg. Ivysaur reared up and slammed its front legs into the ground, causing a tangle of spiky roots to erupt from the ground and topple Galleom via tangling him in the roots. The Key Stone in Red's Mega Ring began to pulse, and so did the Charizardite X that was on a scarf around Charizard's neck. A rainbow-colored aura of energy surrounded Charizard, and when it faded, Mega Charizard let out a roar, spitting out a wave of blue dragonfire.

Charizard's fist cloaked itself in a blue shroud of flame, and, after rearing up, he punched the ground, which began breaking up into several white-hot tiles of metal. The ground began cracking around Galleom, and before he could react, it exploded in a column of blue flame which knocked everyone back several feet.

When the wave of fire died down, it was revealed that Galleom was _not_ in good shape. Parts of his armor had partially melted and fused while his organic parts were riddled with burn scars, including one over his right eye. After a moment of silence, Galleom began crawling towards the Smashers by dragging his mostly-undamaged left arm across the floor. Once he got close enough, he raised said arm up... and it fell to the ground as his backup battery died.

Much to everyone's surprise, Galleom's ruined body then began to dissolve into a mass of Shadow Bugs, which, when they had fully dispersed, revealed a Spirit Orb. A door slid open, and everyone walked into the next room, which was pitch-black, only being illuminated by the eerie glow that Ridley's eyes gave off.

Ridley had switched to thermal vision as he walked into the room, but he only saw the heat signatures of the other Smashers, much to his frustration.

King K. Rool pulled out a flashlight and waved it around, freezing when he caught a glimpse of something orange patiently resting on the ceiling. After a moment, its head jerked in K. Rool's direction, revealing two pairs of mechanical eyes on its face.

Scuttling down a wall, the Scorpion Sentinel hit a light switch and emitted a loud screech while simultaneously whipping its tail around like a flail, drawing the Smashers' attention towards it. Riding on the Scorpion Sentinel was a skull-faced robot that had a drill and a cannon grafted on its back, who then said, _"You sure these are the people, Metal Man?"_

Metal Man's irritated voice came from the robot and said, _"Obviously, you dolt, now get them!"_

The Doc Robot fired seven Quick Boomerangs, lobbed a Hyper Bomb, and shot a burst of Water Balloons in the Smashers' direction, kicking off the fight.

Geno raised a finger, and a golden disk of energy slowly began to grow in size around his finger. With a twist, he fired a Geno Whirl, the disk knocking the Doc Robot off the the Scorpion Sentinel.

The Scorpion Sentinel's head jerked around rapidly, and its eyes began emitting lasers, which then focused on Banjo. Raising its tail, the Scorpion Sentinel stood on guard, and Kazooie activated Wonderwing, propelling herself and Banjo right into the robot, who fired a laser in retaliation, though that was nullified thanks to the intangibility that Wonderwing had granted them.

Donkey Kong punched a Crash Bomber out of the air before ripping apart the Jewel Satellite that the Doc Robot had thrown up, and after grabbing the robot, he threw it in Toon Link's direction. Lunging forward, Toon Link landed a slash with the Master Sword, causing the Doc Robot to focus its cannon on the young hero. Quick Man's voice came through the Doc Robot, saying, _"Hold it! If anyone's getting this kill, it's going to be me!"_

Gemini Man irately responded, _"Stop kill-stealing from all of us!"_

Wood Man's voice came through the Doc Robot, saying, _"We are NOT shooting a child!"_

Grenade Man's gruff voice responded, _"Yes... we... ARE!"_

The Doc Robot fired.

* * *

With a grunt, Lucario fired an Aura Sphere which burst into multiple smaller Aura Spheres which began to home in on the Smashers. Marth batted away one of them with Falchion, Lucas absorbed several of them with his PSI Magnet, and Arvus used Bounce to reflect them back at Lucario, who flashed in and out of their line of sight with a mix of Extreme Speed and Agility.

A Bone Rush staff materializing in his hands, Lucario hit Mario upside the head with it before turning towards Bowser, who spat a fireball at him.

Lucario batted the fireball in Terry's direction, but the Southtown native caught the fireball and sent it through the ground in the form of a Power Wave, his own Ki augmenting the attack further. Lucario was blasted back, but then fired a Flash Cannon from one paw and a Dragon Pulse from the other in retaliation. Terry blocked both attacks, though the Dragon Pulse was tougher to block than the Flash Cannon, and he used Burning Knuckle, calling out the name of the move at the same time, and he charged forward with a Ki-enhanced punch, which Lucario narrowly leapt out of the path of.

Running out of options, Lucario lunged forward, attempting to stab Terry with the spikes on his paws.

Terry, however, psyched out Lucario by faking a Burning Knuckle before leaning back and unleashing Buster Wolf, engulfing Lucario, who had overextended with his last-ditch effort, in a large blast of fire and launching him into a column, causing him to let out a grunt of pain. Adjusting his hat, Terry stepped over to Lucario, who was struggling to get up, his eyes having reverted to their normal red. Extending a hand, Terry asked, "Are you okay?"

Lucario took the hand and stood up with some effort, telepathically communicating, _"I am, thank you."_

Once Lucario got himself readjusted he looked at Mario and asked, _"So what happened?"_

Bowser gruffly replied, "The world got destroyed by that giant light ball from the Craggy Outlook."

 _"So it's our job to clean up the mess, huh?"_

Mario nodded, and pointed to the statue of Princess Shroob, asking, "You-a see that?" Lucario nodded, and Mario continued, "We need to-a stop these aliens before they-" Mario paused upon looking at Lucario's body, which was glowing with Aura in addition to being riddled with scars, before finishing with, "Can overwhelm us with-a their technology."

Letting out a heavy breath, Lucario then hacked out some purple spores as a result of him being experimented on by the Shroobs, before recollecting himself and saying, _"Let's do it."_

* * *

Corrin, after an annoyingly nasal laugh, said, _"We now stand on even footing, brother!"_

Snake looked at his blonde body double as well as the dragon boy, and he snarked, "I fail to see how this counts as 'fair.'"

 _"Didn't you know that it was_ I _who inherited the inferior genes of our father? Therefore, with this clone of yours, I can finally fight on even footing!"_

"That doesn't even make any sense-"

Snake's statement was interrupted by Corrin firing off a Dragon Fang Shot, but Snake instead managed to dodge the paralyzing shot of water, making him think, _"Whoever slapped together this Spirit Orb must think this is all a sick joke."_ Incensed, Snake loaded his SOCOM and put a bullet right through his blonde doppelgänger's head, causing Corrin to look at him in surprise. Assuming a CQC stance, Snake muttered, "Maybe I should've asked Master Hand to let me _keep_ the FOXDIE so this would be a whole lot easier..." before weaving around the sword and landing a hard kick to Corrin's midsection.

Corrin pinned Snake's left boot to the floor and lunged in with a hard kick to his midsection, causing the mercenary to let out a grunt of pain and take a shot at him with a firearm, but Corrin dodged and fired a minuscule Dragon Fang Shot, instead turning his left hand into a set of jaws and attempting to clamp down onto Snake's arm, all while madly cackling, _"An arm for an arm, brother!"_

Snake pulled his arm away, though not without getting some marks on his hand, and he quickly pointed his SOCOM at Corrin's head and said, "This isn't FOXDIE, but welcome to hell, you bastard," before pulling the trigger and watching him crumple to the ground. Snake holstered his SOCOM as he watched both the corpses of Corrin and his body double glow with a purple light and ultimately form a Spirit Orb which housed the familiar visage of Liquid Snake. With a reluctant expression fixed on his face, Snake mumbled, "That was anticlimactic," before putting the Spirit Orb into the pouch on his person and being transported back to the Mysterious Dimension.

* * *

Cloud, tightening his grip on the Buster Sword, sent a Blade Beam in Robin's direction, but she leapt over the energy wave before firing bullets from the Super Scope that was attached to the Levin Sword. Cloud threw up a Big Guard, managing to nullify the attack before doing a 540 kick just as Robin brought the Levin Sword down on him, sending both combatants sprawling towards opposite sides of the platform. Bringing himself back up, Cloud shot a Firaga in Robin/Lightning's direction before following up with Matra Magic.

Lightning jumped over the Firaga before slicing apart the missiles with relative ease, and she ended up in a blade lock when she attempted to catch Cloud off guard with a point-blank energy shot. Realizing the position she was in, Lightning smirked and said, "Checkmate," and the Levin Sword sent a current of electricity along the Buster Sword, severely electrocuting Cloud.

As Lightning looked at the badly burned body of the ex-SOLDIER, she noticed that Cloud was beginning to get back to his feet while a red orb that was embedded in one of two holes on his sword glowed, and Cloud, glaring right at Lightning, said, " _Zantetsuken_."

Odin materialized and, with a single slash, cut the platform in half. However, Cloud had also summoned Ifrit at the same time, and the demon unleashed Hellfire, sending a roaring wave of fire which tipped over both halves of the platform, sending both Cloud and Lightning into the slums of Midgar.

Cloud cut down a regent of Shinra police that attempted to detain him, and he began looking in the alleys for his target. Kicking aside a cluster of trash cans, Cloud was then zapped from behind with Thundaga, and he fell to one knee as a result. Looking up, Cloud saw that Robin had her sword raised, one of her pigtails having come undone in the fall. With a look of slight remorse, Lightning said, _"Goodbye."_

Cloud rolled out of the way of her overhead slash, and, having reached his Limit Break, he jumped off the wall and unleashed a Limit-boosted Climhazzard, scaling an entire building in a single bound and breaking out into a run on the rooftop. Once he was sure that was far away enough, Cloud sat down behind an air-conditioning vent and began trying to recall the contents of the fourteen books that he had read during the fourth tournament. A hint of desperation present, Cloud thought, _"Lightning Farron, Lightning Farron... where have I heard that name?!"_

It all came in a flash, with a story of l'Cie, the wild and hostile world of Pulse, and a woman's race against time to save the islands of Nova Chrysalia... however, the part that had stood out the most to Cloud in that story was the tragic tale of Hope Estheim.

Cloud was shaken out of his thoughts upon hearing the crackle of electricity, and he brought his sword up to block an incoming rain of bullet's from Robin's gunblade—that was what he was calling the weapon now—and as he knocked her sword aside, he noticed that the name 'Estheim' was stenciled into her right arm. Kicking her to the ground before leaning on his Buster Sword, Cloud said, "Ms. Farron, I sympathize with your story, and I hold nothing but the deepest condolences for you and your friends... but I have my own friends and world to save."

Cloud brought down the Buster Sword while also averting his gaze, and when he looked back, he saw that a Spirit Orb which held a woman with pink hair in it floated in front of his face. Touching it, Cloud was brought back to the Mysterious Dimension, where he saw Snake stumble out of the tree he had been hiding in earlier.

* * *

Recovering quickly, Snake pulled out his SOCOM and slowly focused it on Artorias' head, trying his best to lead the shot, which caused Cloud to snark, "Shouldn't the bullet already be in his head?"

"You gotta have patience, Strife… one well-placed bullet will put him down for good, and besides, we can't risk hitting our friends, can we?"

As Snake said that, Fox ran up and landed a hard-hitting backflip kick, shattering some of Artorias' helmet, and the knight, his movements beginning to slow down, ended up taking a Hyper Bomb right to his head, causing even more cracks to run along his helmet. Focusing his wrath on Fox, Artorias flung Abyssal sludge in the vulpine bounty hunter's direction before swinging his sword outward, the flat of the blade knocking Fox dangerously close to a tangle of thorns.

Artorias suddenly fell to one knee, the Abyss' influence having left him, and, looking at the group that surrounded him, he choked out a desperate warning, that being, _"Travelers... please, I beg of thee..."_ Coughing out Abyssal sludge, much to the disgust of the others around him, he pleaded, _"The spread of the Abyss_ must _be stopped at all costs."_ Turning towards the blonde swordsman who he had launched away at the beginning of the fight, he said, _"Thou art an honorable warrior, from what I hath seen... please, I beg of thou, kill me, as I cannot doth the deed myself..."_ To demonstrate, he pulled out a dagger from a sheath on his badly damaged armor and attempted to stab himself in the neck, only for a black aura to come over his hand and cause him to stab the knife into the dirt.

Matthew raised his right hand, and the golden glow of a Potent Cure began to take form in his hand, but Artorias said, _"No. Not even the best healing magic will save me..."_ Putting his right hand on the Sol Blade, Artorias moved it towards his chest area and rasped, _"Thou_ must _kill me to end the horror of the Abyss."_

Matthew vehemently shook his head, saying, "No. I won't allow you to die." Raising his very shaky right hand again, Matthew tried using Potent Cure again, but he was interrupted by the sound of something clicking.

Snake finally had a clear shot, and having seen an opportunity to kill the knight, fired.

A loud bang rang out through the area, and the bullet, while not hitting Artorias directly, shattered his already damaged helmet, finally giving the Smashers a good look at his face. Fox, Wolf, Greninja, and Incineroar all recoiled in horror, while Cloud, Solo, Captain Falcon, Snake, and Little Mac all had looks of shock on their faces. Mega Man, Pit, Joker, and a bleeding Dr. Mario had a similar reaction to the former group, while Bayonetta simply put a hand to her mouth and remarked, "Oh my..."

Artorias' face was that of a once-handsome man, though his jet-black hair had partially rotted away, to say nothing of the actual face itself. Artorias' right eye socket was completely empty, and some patches of flesh on his face (which was mottled with black marks and scars) had been eaten away by the Abyss' influence over time, revealing parts of his skull, which had some kind of black slime sliding down it.

Looking at Matthew, who had a frightened expression on his face, Artorias simply bowed his head and said, _"Human, kill me..."_ Looking at his would-be killer in the eyes, Artorias begged, _"Please."_

Matthew ran the Sol Blade through Artorias' heart, the armor protecting his chest having been blown off by Solo courtesy of a point-blank Kaboom earlier. Yanking out the Sol Blade shortly after, Matthew saw that the golden blade was stained with a mixture of red and black, emphasis on the latter color.

Taking a shuddering breath, Artorias, completely delirious, said, _"Ah, Sif, Ciaran, Gough, Ornstein... all of you, forgive me..."_ Coughing out blood, Artorias finished, _"...For I hath availed you nothing."_ With a final sigh, Artorias dissolved into dust that floated away in the wind, leaving behind his greatsword, a Spirit Orb which housed his likeness, and a piece of the Apollo Sanctum key as the Smashers' only reminders of their bout against him, though it was not like any of them would forget such a terrifyingly memorable encounter. Matthew silently picked up the greatsword and sat far away from everyone else before trying to clean it, while Snake picked up the piece of the key and began inspecting it as the Spirit Orb flew into the pouch on his belt.

Pit silently stepped forward, took a knee, and muttered, " _Qui es passus ut omnis enim vita tua, ut facile omnibus requiem aeternitatis,_ " which earned him a weird look from Bayonetta.

Once he had finished, Pit looked back at the Umbra Witch, who playfully pinched his cheek and said, "You didn't tell me you could speak Latin!"

Looking around at the amount of trees that had been chopped apart during the fight, Snake began gathering wood for a campfire, and once he had gathered enough, Incineroar used Flamethrower on the pile Snake had set up, and a fire roared to life. Cloud began setting up tents as the sky began to darken, and the Smashers sat around the campfire, with some (such as Incineroar and Greninja) in deep conversation, while others simply sat at the campfire, thinking about the wild fight that they had endured.

Snake touched his stab wound again before absently staring out into the distance, while next to him, Bayonetta asked, "What's the matter with you, handsome?"

Snake merely grunted in response. Dropping the flirtatious tone, Bayonetta asked, "Seriously, what's the matter?"

Again, Snake said nothing, and next to her, Captain Falcon whispered, "Look at his stomach area."

Bayonetta noticed the stab wound, and ultimately did not press any further.

Meanwhile, Fox noticed that Wolf's jacket had several holes in it, and he asked, "Close call?"

Wolf's gruff voice sarcastically responded, "Why don't you take a closer look?"

Fox rolled his eyes before resting his head on one of his hands, though Wolf would immediately say, "Yeah, I think this was the closest I've gotten to death's door..."

"Were you not there for the Subspace incident?"

"I was, remember?"

Fox remembered that Wolf had accompanied Bowser when the latter ambushed him, Falco, and Diddy in Kongo Jungle and he asked, "Didn't you get turned into a trophy?"

After a pause, Wolf laughed before correcting, "Okay, so this time was the _second_ -closest I've been."

Fox rolled his eyes again, that time out of amusement rather than annoyance, and he spent more time talking with Wolf.

Nearby, Cloud, having just finished with the final tent, watched as Matthew was wiping a sword clean, the Adept monotonously muttering, "I couldn't save him..."

Walking over, Cloud planted his Buster Sword in the ground and leaned on it before asking, "Hey. Wanna talk about it?"

Looking at Cloud, Matthew snapped, "Talk about what?"

Cloud answered, "The reason why you've completely shut us out after that ordeal."

After several moments of silence, Matthew, in a somewhat hollow voice, said, "I couldn't save him."

"There was nothing you could've done, Matthew-"

The sword clattered onto the ground, and Matthew, his voice now beginning to shake, said, "Don't even _start_ with that bullshit."

"Why are you..."

Wiping his eyes, Matthew continued, "There were so many deaths that I could've prevented on my quests... Briggs, Hou Zan, Volechek, all those people who perished in the Grave Eclipse... and now this Artorias guy." Hugging his knees to his chest, he stared forlornly at Artorias' greatsword and muttered, "I could've… no, I _should've_ done something, _anything_... but I…" Matthew then began to cry, and behind him, Cloud listened with an expression of pity on his face, having ultimately declined to tell Matthew how _he_ had felt when he failed to save Aerith.

Later, once everyone had eaten, they decided to rest for the night, and Cloud, looking at Matthew, who had ended up falling asleep shortly after letting it all out, picked up Artorias' greatsword and carried it into Matthew's tent before carrying the Adept himself into the tent. Once he had finished, Cloud laid on the ground and got a good view of the sky, which was a dark purple. In his head, Aerith said, _"Cloud... you doing okay?"_

Cloud shrugged and answered, "Yeah."

Aerith laughed and replied, _"Still as silent as ever, I see,"_ before saying, _"Goodnight!"_

Cloud smiled before falling asleep.

* * *

The next morning, a loud, earpiercing screech woke up Greninja, who looked around wildly while on the tree he had decided to sleep on for the night, and he saw a humongous six-legged mecha slowly trudging its way through the entrance of the Mysterious Dimension. Balking, Greninja jumped off the tree and ran towards Snake's tent, where he hurriedly began to shake the mercenary awake. After an irritated, "Alright, alright, I'm awake," Snake looked at Greninja and asked, "Mind telling me what's happening, Strider?"

Greninja dragged Snake out of the tent and pointed at the humongous robot. Squinting, Snake gasped and whispered, "No way..."

On the robot, there appeared to be a lightning bolt that was erratically zipping all over the robot, who seemed to be greatly annoyed by it. Raising one of its six legs, it scored a hit on the bolt of lightning, which landed behind Greninja with a loud thud.

Everyone else stumbled out of their tents as a result of the ruckus and stared at the dust cloud that had been thrown up as a result of the impact. As the dust settled, Snake got a good look at what- no, _who_ was in the crater, and he exclaimed, " _Raiden_ _?!_ "

The cyborg ninja, having landed jaw-first on the ground, slowly stood up and rasped, "Ah, Snake, old friend..." before continuing, "I have unfinished business to attend to." Doing a double take, he realized that Snake was no longer aged, and he asked, "How did you get younger?"

Snake's answer was a simple, "Witchcraft."

After a quizzical tilt of his head, Raiden pointed at the giant robot that was slowly but surely approaching them and said, "That there is Metal Gear EXCELSUS."

"You mean _that_ was the 'Project EXCELSUS' that Senator Armstrong was talking about?!" Shaking his head, Snake said, "Crazy guy... I'm glad he's dead."

Ignoring that part, Raiden unsheathed his HF blade and said, "Get ready..."

Metal Gear EXCELSUS let out another ear-splitting roar, and Raiden jumped off of several nearby floating landmasses to reach the Metal Gear again.

Greninja's eyes glowed a bright red, and he let out a guttural croak, a column of water erupting all around him. Gradually, the water settled and condensed into a single shuriken that rested on Greninja's back. The other Smashers got a good look at Greninja once the water column died out, and they saw that his appearance had changed.

Greninja's body was now mostly dark blue save for light blue X-shapes on his thighs and a cream-colored Y-shape on his torso, and his head now featured black and red markings—the red ones being in the shape of a Z—that were styled in the same way as an actual hairstyle.

Ash-Greninja pulled out two purple kunai that were crackling with Dark-type energy, and he followed the same path Raiden took to reach Metal Gear EXCELSUS, shattering part of the ground the others were standing on when he took his first bound.

* * *

 **I'd say Artorias' boss battle is easily my best achievement as a writer. Apologies for the dodgy bit of Latin.**

 **Thanks to almost everyone who left reviews on here!**

 **Healy, you're not forgiven. Please read the PM I sent to your account.**

 **Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Villager, Rosalina, Simon, Daisy, Isaac, Samus, Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Mr. Game & Watch, Eight, Ike, Ken, Robin**

 **Group 2 (Frantic Factory/Smithy's Keep): Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Mii Swo** **rdfighter, Red (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), Falco, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, R.O.B., Pichu, King K. Rool, Luminary, Geno**

 **Group 3 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar, Bayonetta, Solo, Corrin**

 **Group 4 (Shroob Castle): Mario, Bowser, Erdrick/Arvus, Marth, Jigglypuff, Lucas, Terry Bogard, Lucario**

 **Group 5 (Puppet Fighters with known whereabouts): Meta Knight, Young Link**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	37. Two Sides of the Same Coin

**I suppose a break from the relentless action is needed right now...**

 **So I guess that it's time for the villains to get their own chapter!**

 **Chapter's a bit short compared to the others, so bear with me, please...**

* * *

In his pocket dimension, Galeem, along with Tabuu and Ultra Necrozma, watched as the Swarm that resided in Master Hand's glove slowly, but surely begin to rein itself in when the Master Core was put back into Master Hand's resewn glove. After a bit, Master Hand groggily asked, _"What happened?"_

Providing him no answer, Galeem turned around the the small images that he had projected of the Smashers, where he saw that Matthew looked almost unsure of himself while hefting up his sword while Pit took flight, Mario and Bowser knocking away a platoon of Shroobs by doing a tandem attack, Ridley leaving a gash on the Scorpion Sentinel's back before being blasted away by a stray laser, and Wario being zombified by Death's scythe.

With an air of pride, Galeem congratulated himself for having thought ahead when imprisoning nearly all inhabitants of the universe, imprisoning not only heroes who could've posed a chance at stopping him, but also villains who wholeheartedly despised the heroes that currently opposed him, to the point that they were willingly spying for Galeem by providing him with those glimpses of the Smashers.

Thinking to himself, Galeem mused, _"This plan would've been much simpler had Dharkon..."_ A wave of anger came over him when the name came up in his mind, and a bright light flared from him.

Noticing, Ultra Necrozma asked, _"My Lord, what is the matter?"_

Turning around, Galeem asked, _"I have never told you my origin, have I?"_ Necrozma shook its head, and Galeem continued, _"I am a primordial being, having existed since the inception of this very universe. However, with light comes darkness, and as such, my counterpart, Dharkon, came to be. He and I, being polar opposites, inevitably came into conflict."_ As Necrozma and Tabuu listened, the latter restraining Master Hand with his Chains of Light in case he went berserk, Galeem continued, _"Eventually, I overcame him one day and sealed him away to the current realm he inhabits... the Dark Realm."_

 _"But Lord Galeem, what does that have to do with your decision to eradicate these mere mortals?"_

Galeem flared up and unfurled his wings, booming, _"Mere MORTALS?!"_

 _"Well... yes."_

 _"Do you realize how FOOLISH you sound right now?!"_ Recollecting himself, Galeem continued, _"When I had captured them at that cliff, I had taken count of most of their number. Among them was a cosmic goddess, the reincarnation of all evil, a goddess of light, a genetic monstrosity... you in particular should be aware of that last one. To call these people 'mere mortals' is a sign of hubris, Necrozma."_

 _"I... understand. But why do they present such a threat to you?"_

Galeem answered, _"For as many heroes as they have, their group includes the darkest of all evils. To have such opposites interact is not fathomable."_

 _"But why didn't you eliminate them when their numbers were small eleven years ago, which is when you told me that they first formed?"_

 _"Because then, it was only a mere ragtag group of heroes... and then they began to introduce these malice-filled beings later on."_ Seething with hatred, Galeem continued, _"It reached the absolute peak when Tabuu over there attempted his little ploy to turn the world into the domain of the Great Maze... I saw them, standing on that cliff."_

Tabuu, having begun to listen in once he heard his name, asked, _"Why was it only by_ my _defeat that you took notice?"_

Ignoring him, Galeem continued, _"It was then where I realized that the effects of such intermingling were irreversible. There is one, and_ only _one solution: Rewrite the universe from scratch to eliminate this dynamic entirely._ "

Necrozma asked, _"That seems... quite extreme, don't you think?"_

Folding two of his wings into a shape resembling a finger-tent, Galeem quietly asked, _"Are you questioning MY authority, Necrozma? You know I granted you your power, and you also know that I can take it away with what equates to a fingersnap."_ Galeem flickered once, and Necrozma reverted to its black prism form, falling lifelessly onto the ground with a hard clunk. Flickering again, Necrozma was restored to its original form, and Galeem asked, _"Are we clear?"_

Thoroughly shaken, Necrozma responded, _"O-of course, Lord Galeem."_

 _"Good."_ Turning his gaze to Master Hand, Galeem said, _"Tabuu, remake the clones of the hand. I feel that they will be... useful down the line."_

 _"Of course."_

Turning towards the five clones of Mr. Game & Watch that were _still_ leaking Shadow Bugs, Galeem fashioned them into the shape of a humongous golem. Necrozma recognized what Galeem was trying to create, and it asked, _"Do you have a way around Slow Start? I myself am not capable of using Skill Swap or Entrainment to make this process quicker..."_

 _"Skill Swap, was it?"_ Necrozma nodded, and Galeem continued, _"Kidnap Mewtwo."_

Necrozma concentrated, and eventually managed to transform back into its lightless form.

Galeem watched as the black hunk of rock dropped lifelessly onto the ground, and he asked, _"What was the point of that?"_

 _"I must assume this form in order to not draw so much attention to myself."_

 _"...That is clever, I will admit."_

Galeem opened up a portal to the Mysterious Dimension he remembered that he had seen Snake's party in, and, ignoring the stinging feeling that emanated from the sheer amount of dark energy present in that area, he sent Necrozma's prismatic form through the portal with a flap of his wings. As the portal closed up, Galeem saw a second Master Hand appear next to the original, and he drawled, _"Perfect..."_

Tabuu looked over at Galeem and asked, _"Wouldn't it just be simpler to break their spirits instead of wearing them down through fights?"_

 _"Believe me, Tabuu, I would if I could, but my powers are weaker in the Dark Realm."_

* * *

Necrozma fell on top of a cave, and just as it was reacclimating itself, it heard the unmistakable growl of a Hydreigon. Pushing itself off the cave in a hurry, Necrozma hovered over several disjointed landmasses, only pausing when a concentrated beam of light coming from above barely grazed it and blew up a nearby floating island. It might've been its imagination, but Necrozma thought that it heard a bout of mad laughter coming from where the laser had been fired...

Pushing the thought aside, Necrozma continued to search the realm for Mewtwo.

* * *

Hiding beneath a miniscule island in the greater area of the Dark Realm, Dharkon, like Galeem, was also spying on the Smashers. However, unlike Galeem, who was using some of his Spirits as proxies, Dharkon was more keen to doing the spying himself, having planted small 'seeds' of himself, so to speak, all across the Dark Realm. Chuckling to himself, Dharkon thought of how ridiculously easy his tactic would be in the Sacred Realm, where there were traces of Malice, one of the few remnants of Calamity Ganon's rampage, all across the area.

Speaking of the Sacred Realm...

Dharkon then shifted his focus to one of his many seeds that resided in that general area, particularly one that was in the Lost Woods, where, much to his confusion, he saw a gravestone that read 'May the Champions of Hyrule Rest Easy.' Ignoring the name that was on there, Dharkon switched to another one of his seeds, where he was finally able to see Young Link, who, as he understood, was one of three holders of the Triforce of Courage.

The young hero was sitting on a rock, aimlessly staring out into the thicket of trees. Much to Dharkon's alarm, the hero's eyes began flickering between purple and their normal blue, and he thought to himself, _"So, he's not doing anything for my purpose at the moment... it's high time that I change that!"_

Dharkon's eye flashed a vibrant red.

* * *

Young Link suddenly felt a heavy feeling come over him, and he collapsed to the floor, sound asleep.

* * *

 _Young Link found himself standing in the middle of Clock Town, which was completely deserted. Looking around, it appeared that everyone had just suddenly... vanished, given how the town still looked like it was in the middle of the Carnival of Time. Looking up, he saw that the Moon, the same horrifying expression still fixed on its face, slowly descending to its inevitable collision with the now-quiet world of Termina._

 _The Deku Mask, Goron Mask, Zora Mask, and the Fierce Deity Mask all floated out of his bag, and the former three masks radiated with a sinister glow before latching themselves onto Young Link's face._

 _If Young Link thought putting on just one mask was a painful experience, then three of them at the same time was pure agony. Screaming, he clawed at his head as the pain made it come dangerously close to bursting, the three masks slowly melding into a horribly contorted amalgamation of a face that appeared to be crying for help. Collapsing to the ground, his body started to convulse as it rapidly shrunk to the small size of a Deku Scrub, his arms swelling into the bulky arms of a Goron, and fins like a Zora's painfully protruding out of his back and arms._

 _With another cry of pain, Young Link resorted to bashing his head into a rock in an effort to crack the mask, and when that didn't work, he punched himself in the face, which actually managed to cause some fissures to run along the mask. After another punch, the cracks began to form a miniature spider web, and a third and final punch shattered the amalgamated mask, causing Young Link's body to turn back to normal. Breathing heavily, the Hero of Time stared in horror at the remains of what were the three main masks he had utilized to help the citizens of Termina before frantically backing up once he saw that they were beginning to piece themselves together._

 _Tears of fear beginning to well up in his eyes, Young Link attempted to snatch the Fierce Deity Mask off the floor, but a black-and-red tentacle emerged out of the ground and shattered it with a single stab before retreating just as quickly. Back on his feet, he ran into a nearby forest, where a mysterious fog slowly began to settle. Paying it no mind, Young Link continued to run deeper into the woods, seeing a gnarled tree that had a large metallic ball stuck inside it. After about ten minutes of running in a straight line after that point, Young Link took in his surroundings... and saw that he was standing by that same tree he had run past earlier._

 _His panic increasing, Young Link desperately looked around for a possible way out, only freezing when he saw tiny embers from a torch being blown in some kind of path. Curious, Young Link followed the torches, paying attention to which way the embers were drifting while still sneaking cautious glances behind himself so that he could keep a lookout for his mutilated mask._

 _Once he finally got through the Lost Woods, Young Link walked through the inside of a hollowed-out tree, only to be severely caught off guard by what he saw._

 _The Great Deku Tree had been split right down the middle by a large red-and-black tendril that was also coating it with some kind of sticky substance of the same color. Turning back, Young Link attempted to flee, but a circle of those same tendrils erupted and converged all around him, trapping Young Link inside an opaque, black-and-red dome of sorts. Lying down on the ground, Young Link curled up into a ball, staring at the floor with an expression of fear fixed onto his face. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, a tendril with an eyeball fixed on the tip burst out of the ground and fixated its gaze on him._

 _Dharkon kept his eye fixed on Young Link, almost as if he were evaluating him. After a bit, Dharkon thought to himself, "So this is the fabled Hero of Time... quite the weakling, if I say so myself." Seeing that Young Link was looking at him once more, Dharkon began, "You are UNWORTHY of wielding the Triforce of Courage... look at you, curled up into a sniveling little ball..." Sneering to the extent that an eyeball could sneer, Dharkon continued, "I can see why everyone saw you as utterly unnecessary."_

 _"Wh-what?"_

 _"Oh, didn't you know? The other Triforce wielders never missed you, they saw your other counterpart as perfectly acceptable and left you to rot away... even your Zelda only saw you as a means to an end, and nothing more in her life."_

 _An angry look having wormed its way onto Young Link's face, he shouted back, "That's not true!"_

 _"Oh, but it is..." Dharkon then generated a dark fog, and in it, the figures of Link, Zelda, Sheik, and Toon Link slowly came into view, the four of them shooting reproachful glares at the Hero of Time._

 _The illusory Zelda began, "I don't see why you were allowed to rejoin the tournament, you little brat. You're nothing more than a mask-wearing child who_ let _Ganondorf ravage Hyrule for seven years all so you could wield the Master Sword... and even then, you were hopelessly outclassed by the Gerudo King_ _until the Sages gave you a last-minute assist." A look of disgust on her face, she finished, "You don't belong in our ranks. Never have, never will."_

 _The others said nothing, but the looks on their faces seemed to agree with Zelda's sentiment, and the image of the four dissolved and reformed into that of Ganondorf. The Gerudo King let out a gruff laugh before his face morphed into that of a blazing skull with glowing eyes, and Demise glowered at Young Link, who was simply sitting there with a horrified expression frozen onto his face. His voice reverberating inside the small dome, Demise said, "All of your efforts were for nothing, boy... as long as the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero exist, so does your eternally reoccurring nemesis. I am immortal, I am all-encompassing..."_

 _Demise seemed to be coming_ out _of the illusion, and his expression changed to that of a haunting smile as he finished,_ _"...I am inevitable."_

* * *

Young Link woke up in a cold sweat and found himself staring at the same eyeball from his nightmare. Just as he was about to scream, however, the eyeball flashed a brilliant red, and Young Link's vision slowly became clouded by a purple haze while he simultaneously lost consciousness.

Dharkon watched as Young Link slumped to the forest floor again... right before he immediately stood back up like a zombie, his eyes having turned purple-and-black. Dharkon's seed coiled itself around Young Link and whispered, _"You have no one to go to... no one who cares for you. You were replaced by that cartoonish caricature of yourself, and no one batted an eye. The other Triforce wielders see you as unworthy of your position._ I _, however, see you as an important asset to my greater goal. Will you help me see it through?"_

After a long silence, Young Link said, _"I will do as you command, Lord Dharkon."_

 _"Excellent."_

* * *

Necrozma hid behind a rock as it watched the Dark Star silently hover above it, and once it was sure that the Dark Star was gone, it continued towards where Mewtwo's signature had been the strongest: a lone floating cave. Floating over, Necrozma, using its wits, disguised itself as a rock in the cave, where it saw that Mewtwo was apparently thinking to itself. Necrozma slowly inched closer to Mewtwo, having a near-miss with a small pond, and all seemed to be going well for the Prism Pokémon when all of a sudden, Mewtwo whirled around and, using its telepathic powers, said, _"It would be better for you if you were to stay away from this location. I doubt that Marx would react kindly to such a Pokémon as yourself."_

 _"Your skills will be greatly appreciated by Lord Galeem-"_

Mewtwo's eyes narrowed, and he wordlessly launched a Shadow Ball from his hand right at Necrozma, who threw up a Light Screen in response. The barrier dispelled, and Necrozma used Power Gem, bombarding Mewtwo with several glowing hunks of rock that pushed the Genetic Pokémon back. With a soft snarl, Mewtwo shot a Signal Beam out of one hand while using Disable to stun Necrozma in place so that the former move would be a guaranteed hit. The Signal Beam hit true, and Necrozma was launched into a part of the cave, causing some stalactites to break loose. Necrozma grabbed two of the fallen stalactites before throwing them at Mewtwo like they were knives, but the latter stopped the makeshift daggers by using Psychic to hold them in place... which left it open to a brutal Shadow Claw.

As Mewtwo examined the black claw marks that were now smoking on its arm, it said, _"I serve Lord Dharkon... he promised me a place where I could truly live in peace, far away from everyone else... he told me that Galeem would take that hope away from me, and it appears that he was right."_ Holding out its unscarred arm, Mewtwo generated a ring of Shadow Balls that began to circle around it like some sort of shield, at least until it launched them at Necrozma, who put up another Light Screen to block the relentless attacks. While that was happening, however, Mewtwo took the opportunity to run up to the now stationary Necrozma and wallop it with Aqua Tail followed by a rapid-fire Poison Jab right into Necrozma's torso, and with a cold satisfaction present in its eye, it watched as Necrozma slumped to the ground and laid still. Just as it was about to walk away from the defeated form of the Prism Pokémon, Mewtwo heard a loud click, which was then followed by a wormhole opening up.

Out of the wormhole, a giant disembodied hand emerged and snapped its fingers, creating a cage of light all around Mewtwo, who watched with shock as it saw Necrozma get up rather effortlessly and dust off its own body like nothing had happened at all.

As Mewtwo's cage was dragged into the small pocket dimension, it saw that Necrozma had transformed into a golden, glowing dragon, to which he reacted with astonishment.

Outside the cage, Necrozma boasted, _"I am the Blinding One, Alola's deity of light. Looking at you in your base form is... pitiful, to say the least."_ Mewtwo growled in response to the Prism Pokémon's taunt before attempting to use Psystrike to break the cage, though that failed and resulted in the attack backfiring, causing Mewtwo to clutch its head in pain as the cage around it glowed brighter.

Master Hand snapped his fingers, causing the cage to dissipate, and Tabuu ensnared Mewtwo in the Chains of Light immediately after the cage disappeared.

Galeem looked back, having completed the construction of the Shadow Regigigas, and he saw that Mewtwo was now restrained. Floating over, he examined the Genetic Pokémon before musing, _"So this is the self-proclaimed 'World's Most Powerful Pokémon...'"_

Giving Galeem a murderous glare, Mewtwo's voice took on a threatening tone before asking, _"Do you wish for a demonstration?"_

 _"Oh, I insist... if you want to be permanently erased from this universe."_ That threat cowed Mewtwo back into submission, and Galeem took on a slightly more affable tone as he asked, _"Now, I have three questions for you."_

Wary, Mewtwo asked, _"What are they?"_

 _"Do you know Entrainment?"_

Mewtwo shook his head.

 _"Skill Swap?"_

Mewtwo nodded.

 _"Perfect!"_ Pointing at the Shadow Regigigas, Galeem commanded, _"Use Skill Swap. Or else..."_ Galeem proceeded to emit a bright flare to let the rest of his threat get through to Mewtwo.

Mewtwo, though still mutinously glaring at Galeem, used Skill Swap, switching Abilities with the Shadow Regigigas, resulting in the latter gaining Unnerve while the former was saddled with the burden of Slow Start.

Once the deed was done, Galeem said, _"Perfect! Now you shall return to your dimension."_

A portal back to Mewtwo's cave opened up courtesy of a fingersnap from Master Hand, and Mewtwo was thrown through the portal, though not before it stealthily used Role Play on Ultra Necrozma, copying its Ability.

Landing back inside its cave, Mewtwo tested its new Ability of Neuroforce on a Zubat that flitted past it by using Ice Beam. The Zubat was instantly frozen solid, and Mewtwo, still under Dharkon's influence, stomped on the lump of ice, shattering it.

A cruel smile having worked its way on its face, Mewtwo let out a low chuckle that echoed through the small cave.

* * *

Meanwhile, Galeem was conversing with Tabuu as to where the Shadow Regigigas should be deployed, while Necrozma surveyed Galeem's projections for anything that seemed off about the Smashers' groups.

* * *

On the other hand, Dharkon had set up patrol in the Sacred Realm through disguising several of his seeds as Malice, as that was the last major location in his domain that the Smashers had not reached, all while quietly laughing to himself.

* * *

 **Fosco, I very much appreciate the honesty in your review, because if I'm being honest, I sort of forgot that I hadn't given Galeem or Dharkon their motives...**

 **Oh yeah, that golden 'X' in the sky at the end of Subspace? Personally, I think that's Galeem.**

 **Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Villager, Rosalina, Simon, Daisy, Isaac, Samus, Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Mr. Game & Watch, Eight, Ike, Ken, Robin**

 **Group 2 (Frantic Factory/Smithy's Keep): Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Mii Swo** **rdfighter, Red (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), Falco, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, R.O.B., Pichu, King K. Rool, Luminary, Geno**

 **Group 3 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar, Bayonetta, Solo, Corrin**

 **Group 4 (Shroob Castle): Mario, Bowser, Erdrick/Arvus, Marth, Jigglypuff, Lucas, Terry Bogard, Lucario**

 **Group 5 (Puppet Fighters with known whereabouts): Meta Knight, Young Link, Mewtwo**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	38. Rise of the Machines

**Ash-Greninja vs. Metal Gear EXCELSUS... excuse me, I'm just giddy from getting to write what basically equates to "cool vs. awesome."**

 **Back to your regularly scheduled programming!**

* * *

Greninja leapt off a floating landmass and dived straight at Metal Gear EXCELSUS, driving one of his kunai into the robot. Seeing Raiden zip around on the hind legs of the robot, Greninja pulled the shuriken off his back and tossed it at the cockpit, causing the pilot to use one of the recently installed flamethrowers to try and cook him where he stood. Greninja had already leapt out of the way, however, and he shot a Dark Pulse from one hand before flinging a Night Slash-imbibed kunai from the other towards the cockpit. Landing on one of the Metal Gear's six legs, Greninja used Water Shuriken to cut a chunk of metal off its leg before using Fling to draw the attention of one of the robot's blade arms by throwing the hunk of metal at one of the blades that Raiden was fighting.

The blade swiveled over to Greninja, who took the shuriken off his back and held it like a sword, preparing for the robot's sword to come down on his head. However, Greninja looked at the shadow that the Metal Gear was casting over him, and, formulating a plan, he melted away into a pool of shadow before materializing on top of the blade arm. Curling up one of his webbed hands into a fist, a crimson glow came over it and Greninja used Power-Up Punch, actually leaving a small dent in the Metal Gear's arm. Greninja used the move again, and the dent became even deeper. Feeling stronger than he had been before, Greninja then jumped down and drove another kunai into one of the Metal Gear's legs, which caused it to emit a high-pitched screech and shake Greninja off its leg.

Landing on the ground in a three-point stance, Greninja looked up and saw that a plate on the Metal Gear's leg was beginning to slide off, revealing several cannons that then proceeded to fire a swarm of Bull's-Eye Bills in Greninja's direction. Creating another pair of pressurized water kunai, Greninja threw them at the incoming bullets, slicing two of them in half, before jumping up into the swarm of Bull's-Eye Bills with another loud croak.

Jumping off one Bull's-Eye Bill, Greninja then made a chain and sickle out of water to slice up several more before using Rock Slide, causing a small avalanche to crush several more of the bullets, and Greninja climbed up the falling boulders before shooting himself back towards the Metal Gear's leg with two powerful bursts of Hydro Pump. Landing, Greninja noticed that the word 'Desperado' had been scratched off EXCELSUS' leg and replaced by 'Property of the Smithy Gang and Kremkroc Industries.' Paying it no mind, Greninja generated two small shurikens in his hands and threw them at the cockpit, but one of the robot's sword arms blocked the stars of compressed water before swiveling towards Raiden, who was too busy dodging his way around the plasma cannons to notice that the sword arm was swinging towards his head.

Greninja flung the shuriken that resided on his back in Raiden's direction before vaulting over two of the Metal Gear's six legs and flicking one of his webbed fingers away from himself to use Hydro Pump and blast himself towards the cyborg ninja with the recoil. Once he landed, he looked up to see that his shuriken had made contact before jumping away from a blast of searing hot plasma. Raiden, meanwhile, was caught off guard by the Metal Gear's sword arm suddenly changing into a hand, which then picked him up and scraped him jaw-first on its leg as if it were scratching an itch, causing Raiden's jaw to glow white-hot before he broke free and chopped off the hand with his HF Blade.

* * *

Meanwhile, Snake reluctantly took out one of his five flare grenades and examined it before asking, "Hey Hal, d'you think we could end up making this work or something?"

 _"Well, with the stuff that we've pulled off over the last several years... I'd say there's a fifty-fifty chance of this working."_

"Perfect." Looking at Wolf, Snake asked, "You think you could give me a ride to that Metal Gear over there, buster?"

Wolf looked at the battered body of his ship, still sporting damages from the clash with Miracle Matter, and reluctantly nodded, but not before wagging a finger at Snake and saying, "I'm warning you, Plissken, any additional damages that happen to my ship are coming out of your pocket once the tournament starts up." Running a claw along the chassis, the lupine mercenary continued, "These parts aren't exactly cheap, mind you..."

Snake smirked before replying, "No promises," before hopping onto the left wing of the Wolfen. Punching the ignition, Wolf hacked out another cluster of spores into his hand, still feeling the effects of the Shroobs' experimentation, and with a roar, the Wolfen achieved liftoff and flew towards Metal Gear EXCELSUS.

Wolf, looking through the cockpit, blanched upon seeing that there were laser cannons on the robot, which, from the looks of it, had been recently installed, and he opened the glass dome that protected the cockpit, where he saw that Snake had the same expression present on his face. Looking at Snake, Wolf, with a bit of a false bravado present in his voice, said, "Better start saving your funds, then," before closing the glass dome.

After a bit, the two of them were able to see just how big the Metal Gear was.

Metal Gear EXCELSUS was humongous, being nearly triple the size of Metal Gear REX, and with every step it took, trees toppled, Keese scattered, and even the stratospheric tower of what appeared to be human flesh and other miscellaneous parts seemed to be shaking off in the distance. Pointing one of the plasma cannons towards the ship that had just flown into its general range, the pilot fired, and a bolt of searing-hot plasma raced towards the ship, Wolf barely managing to swerve out of the way.

Snake gradually eased himself back up, having clung onto a part of the Wolfen as best he could to avoid getting thrown off when Wolf swerved. Knocking on Wolf's cockpit, he waited until the lupine mercenary opened the glass dome, and once he did, Snake ignored the irritated look that Wolf was shooting him before explaining, "Look, we clearly can't stay in that thing's vicinity for too long because we're eventually going to get shot out out the sky. We just need to get our big hits in and then we can try and assist those two from a distance."

A slightly impressed look present on his face, Wolf remarked, "Not a bad plan, Plissken. You've got that grenade launcher from last time, right?" Snake pulled out a grenade launcher and nodded, and Wolf mockingly saluted, saying, "Bon voyage, captain." Punching the ignition again, the Wolfen sped towards Metal Gear EXCELSUS, which was trying to slice apart Raiden and Greninja with the use of its retractable blades, but the two ninjas were simply too nimble for the big blade. Another round of Bull's-Eye Bills came from below, and Greninja began charging a Power-Up Punch in response, however, the homing Bullet Bills flew _away_ from the two of them and towards something flying above them, much to the two's confusion.

The pilot inside the Metal Gear took advantage of the distraction by swinging one of the blade arms towards Greninja and Raiden, knocking them off the EXCELSUS' leg and onto a nearby floating island.

Snake looked down and tossed his flare grenade, and the Bull's-Eye Bills began chasing after it instead.

Greninja growled a little upon recovering from being launched onto the island and was about to hop right back into the action until Raiden moved his HF Blade in front of Greninja. The Ninja Pokémon gave Raiden a quizzical look, but the cyborg rasped, "Look at the smoke... that's a flare grenade." Keeping the same perplexed look on his face, Greninja waited until Raiden continued, "It's likely that someone's signaling an airstrike. It's best that we _don't_ get blown up in the crossfire."

Sure enough, seven missiles flew in from different locations, each of them homing for the Metal Gear. One by one, the missiles struck, and the Metal Gear actually appeared to be staggered by the bombardment.

Meanwhile, up above, Snake tightened his bandanna, pulled out his grenade launcher, and said, " _It's showtime!_ " before firing an entire round, which consisted of half a dozen grenades, at the reeling mecha. After another ear-splitting screech, Snake jammed another six rounds into the barrel and let loose, drowning the Metal Gear in a sea of explosions. Waiting for the smoke to subside, Snake peered over the edge of the Wolfen's wing in curiosity, and cursed at what he saw when the last of the smoke had cleared.

A massive crater had been created by the massive amount of explosives, with several Gekkos surrounding said crater, but EXCELSUS was nowhere in sight. Snake, from up above, began closely looking for any signs of the Metal Gear, as he knew from experience that no Metal Gear, not even RAY, could vanish in such a fashion. Noticing a gaping hole on the crater's side, Snake turned to the cockpit and yelled, "It's tunneled under!"

Growling at what he had heard, Wolf flew towards the ground, his ship transforming into its Hunter form while Snake jumped off and used his Cypher to fly over to a nearby island. Once Snake landed, he was confronted by both Raiden and Greninja, the former asking, "Was that you up above?"

Snake nodded before asking, "How are we supposed to take that thing down?"

"I used the sword arm to destroy it. Shame I didn't kill the pilot as well the first time around..."

"Who was the pilot?"

"Senator Armstrong."

Taking in a sharp inhale, Snake mused, "Well, I can't say that nutjob didn't get what he deserved with his death..."

Raiden nodded, his voice trailing off with a quiet, "Yeah..."

As the conversation went on, Greninja noticed that the cliff where the rest of their allies were was shaking, and Snake and Raiden looked at the cliffside upon hearing a massive rumble that caused some rocks to tumble. Greninja scaled the entire cliff in a single bound, while Raiden hopped off of several small islands to reach the top of the cliff, leaving trails of lightning in his wake. Snake eyed a patch of sparkling particles on one of the islands that Raiden had jumped onto, and he used his Cypher to fly to that island, remembering what Hal had told him about the particles when they had first arrived at the Mysterious Dimension. Landing on the island, Snake stepped onto the particles, which slowly began to lift him off the ground and bring him up.

Looking down, Snake muttered, "Life finds a way to surprise me every time..." before grabbing onto the edge of the cliff and pulling himself up. Looking around, he saw that everyone except Matthew was staring at the ground warily, expecting something to emerge and attack them, judging by how the tremors had gotten louder and closer.

Looking in front of him, Popo noticed that the ground near himself and Nana was getting uncomfortably warm—even for them—and he and his girlfriend backed up slowly, holding their Squall Hammers in front of them as a defensive measure. Snake and Bayonetta also noticed the fact that certain parts of the ground were glowing white, and all of a sudden, two beams of white-hot plasma shot through the ground, knocking almost everyone to the ground.

For a few more seconds, there was absolutely no sound, save for metal scraping and crumpling underneath something, and then all hell broke loose.

Several Gekkos jumped out of the holes that had been made by the plasma lasers, causing both Snake and Raiden to curse before utilizing their experience to take down several of them. Snake, upon shooting a Gekko in its legs with a tranquilizer dart, immobilizing it as a result, looked at the others and said, "Go for the legs, head, or underside and you'll be fine. Just watch out for any stray kicks or bullets," before taking out his SOCOM and shooting a small orb on the Gekko's head to demonstrate, causing it to thrash and spew black lactic acid in its death throes before collapsing. Once that was done, Snake began pulling out his grenades and throwing them at the Gekko swarm to lure them towards him.

The group, now armed with the knowledge of how to take down the robots, leapt into action.

Joker slid underneath one Gekko before using his grappling hook to tie its legs together, and, with an assist from Captain Falcon, brought down the robot before destroying it with a combination of Falcon Punch and Odin's Wild Thunder.

Dr. Mario, with some effort, heaved Incineroar onto his shoulders with a fireman's carry and flung him as hard as he could, right onto the head of the Gekko, and, Incineroar, after a gruff laugh, stomped on the orb before jumping off and landing on the ground, while behind him, the Gekko was smashed to bits courtesy of King Dedede's Jet Hammer. As he raised a finger in celebration, he heard a stomp behind him, and turned around to see that a Gekko had a gun pointed right at his face.

Out of the corner of his eye, Cloud saw that Incineroar was staring down a Gekko that had its gun pointed at him, and he quickly used Big Guard before sliding underneath another Gekko and using Climhazzard to cut through its body, emerging from its top covered in black gunge. Wiping some of it off the Buster Sword, he pointed the oversized blade at another Gekko and blasted it with Thundaga, blowing up the orb that resided on its head and causing it to spew the same black gunge all over the floor.

Meanwhile, Incineroar had come to his senses, and destroyed the machine gun with a Fire Punch once it fired a few bullets that harmlessly bounced off thanks to Cloud's Big Guard, before going underneath the Gekko and charging his hands up with Electric-type energy right before leaping up into the Gekko's underside with an electrified Cross Chop, and then emerging out from the bottom again, standing underneath the Gekko as lactic acid poured out of its body.

From behind a rock, Fox was acting as the group's sharpshooter, picking off Gekkos by using his sniper rifle and occasionally lobbing grenades and Smart Bombs to cull the horde. Jamming another cartridge into his rifle, Fox shot a Gekko that was right about to stomp on Kirby and the Piranha Plant, causing it to spew... something before collapsing. A disgusted expression forming on his face, Fox then swiveled his rifle to his right and was about to shoot another Gekko before hearing something land right next to him. Taking a look, Fox panicked upon seeing that it was a grenade, and he quickly scooped it up and threw it as hard as he could. The grenade exploded in midair, and Fox turned his attention back to the Gekko he had his sights on, only to see that Popo and Nana had already crushed its orb.

Corrin catapulted herself onto the head of a Gekko using her pin before running its orb through with Dragon Lunge, and then launching herself onto another Gekko with the pin. Nearby, Solo ended up shattering a Gekko into bits of metal and organic muscle with a simple upwards sword thrust to its underside, his Zenithian Sword emitting a noise that sounded a lot like bones shattering as he did so. Stepping through the black puddle of sludge that the Gekko had left behind with cautious trepidation, Solo used Kaswoosh to propel himself into the air and used Magic Burst, managing to blow up several Gekkos before falling back to the ground, his magical energy being completely exhausted.

Mega Man, surrounded by Gekkos that all had machine guns trained onto him, threw up the Star Crash and the Jewel Satellite just as they opened fire. The gunfire shredded the stars and shattered the diamonds, but the Blue Bomber kept replenishing them, taking a few bullets every time he did so. Fighting through the pain, Mega Man used the last bits of ammunition he had for both weapons, managing to hold back the last of the bullets. Equipping the Acid Barrier, Mega Man ran under a Gekko and melted its underside before climbing in, causing the Gekko to moo in pain as he worked his way to the top of its robotic body. Switching back to the Mega Buster, he took aim at another Gekko and shot the orb on its head with a well-aimed Charge Shot, causing it to spew black lactic acid before collapsing.

To the Blue Bomber's right, Matthew, still in a stupor from the previous day—time was relative in the Mysterious Dimension—snapped to his senses when he heard a Gekko stomp up to him, and in a panic, he reached for his sword and thrusted it towards the Gekko's underside, getting out of the way of the lactic acid that spilled shortly afterwards. Preparing to unleash Megiddo to finish the job, Matthew raised up his sword and swung it forward... but nothing came out. Confused, the Adept looked down at the sword, which, unlike the Sol Blade, was silver and tainted with blue splotches along the blade.

Meanwhile, Snake noticed that a dark aura was beginning to form around Matthew, but he was quickly sidetracked by a Gekko mooing right in front of him before jumping up in an attempt to stomp on him. The Gekko never touched the ground, however, because Bayonetta caught it with an Afterburner Kick before dragging it off the cliff with continuous strikes. Once she did that, she used Afterburner Kick to get back to the cliff, where she strode past Snake, twirling Love is Blue in one hand while cheekily asking, "So, where's my thank you?"

Snake did not answer, and instead planted a landmine where he stood, intending to trip up any Gekkos that came near his 'zone,' while nearby, Popo and Nana smashed a Gekko's orb before using Belay to hop onto another and repeating the process, clearing the field for the other Smashers.

While all that was going on, Greninja and Raiden were at the epicenter of the chaos, Greninja constantly having to plug the holes that EXCELSUS had made earlier with Rock Slide every time another squadron of Gekkos exited from them, while Raiden sliced and diced most of the Gekkos that came his way, the stragglers being picked off by both Greninja and Fox.

Eventually, Greninja managed to plug up the holes for good, the previously massive Gekko horde being reduced to roughly a dozen or so that were either being sniped by Fox or handled by the others.

Once the last Gekko was felled by Raiden, who sliced it up into bits, the group stopped to catch their breath while Raiden stalked over to a Gekko that was still relatively whole before using Zandatsu to cut it open and retrieve its fuel cells with expert precision. Before they could get too comfortable, however, the group heard a metallic screech, causing them to go into high alert, surveying the area for any signs of EXCELSUS.

Another plasma laser burst through the ground, and once it died down, something red and silver was flung out of the hole. Raiden snarled a little and prepared to charge at the object, but Snake held a hand out to his former trainee to tell him to wait. Something sounded from _inside_ the wreckage, making everyone else freeze up in alarm, and Snake cautiously walked forward, where he saw that the object was heavily crumpled and metallic. Hearing another scratching noise, Snake pointed his SOCOM at the thing, and then he heard glass shatter, followed by a liquid spilling out from the back. Snake took a step back, coolly keeping his pistol pointed at the object.

A brutally beaten Wolf O'Donnell stumbled out from behind his utterly wrecked Wolfen, covered in the purple liquid while clutching at his head. Looking up, he saw that Snake was pointing his pistol at him, and he weakly drawled, "You're paying out of pocket when we resolve this, Plissken," before collapsing to the ground.

"Wolf!"

Fox ran up to his rival and dragged him over to Solo, asking, "Look, I've seen the stuff that Cloud and Matthew have done, you can heal him, right?" When Solo didn't answer, Fox asked again, " _Right_?"

After a small delay, Solo responded, "Oh, of course!" before reaching into his satchel for a pouch full of medicinal herbs.

Nearby, Snake asked, "That's not what I think it is, right?"

Solo looked at Snake with a look of utter confusion present on his face before cramming a couple of herbs into Wolf's mouth and forcing him to chew and swallow. After a bit, Wolf's eye flew open, and he scrambled back, pointing his gun at Solo with a shaky hand before lowering it once he realized who he was aiming it at. Looking at Fox, Wolf growled, "We're out of options for that thing," gesturing towards his wrecked Wolfen to emphasize that fact.

Before Fox could ask anything else, the ground began to rumble, and from out of one of the plugged up holes, a huge robotic fist smashed through the boulders and snagged Solo in its grasp.

Metal Gear EXCELSUS burst out of the ground and let out a metallic roar, causing Greninja and Raiden to spring into action, while Dr. Mario sprinted after the others, thinking, _"I really wish Mario told me more about his space travels..."_

Matthew, having switched back to the Sol Blade, unleashed Megiddo, and the miniature sun exploded right in front of EXCELSUS' cockpit, blinding the pilot inside, which allowed for Raiden and Greninja to begin their assault. Resheathing the Sol Blade, Matthew took out the sword that he had been holding before that and looked at it closely, noticing the streaks and splotches of blue and black that were running across the blade. Holding the sword in front of himself, he noticed that a familiar aura was beginning to pool at his feet, and in a panic, he quickly sheathed his sword before tripping over a rock and stumbling backwards into a tangle of thorns.

Groaning in pain, Matthew, upon sitting up, found himself still surrounded by that same black aura, and he sheathed the sword while picking several thorns out of both his jacket and hand.

It might've been a figment of his imagination, but Matthew swore he heard a voice that said, _"Thou must not succumb to the Abyss' pull, traveler, lest thou suffer the same sorry fate as that knight..."_ Pushing the thought out of his head, the Adept ran towards the humongous robot, where he saw that most of his allies had already begun fighting it.

Mega Man switched to the Metal Blade and let loose with four of the buzzsaws, managing to leave several deep cuts in the Metal Gear's armor, giving it a new target. Raising up its damaged arm, EXCELSUS revealed that the sword underneath had not been hacked off, and it swung the sword in Mega Man's direction... only to find that he was not there. The Blue Bomber then deactivated the Chroma Camo before using the Sharp Knuckle to get a grip on one of the Metal Gear's legs.

Metal Gear EXCELSUS then began to back up to where its severed hand lay, and, upon shaking Mega Man off, grabbed the appendage and reattached it to its stump of an arm, giving it two hands once again.

On the ground, Raiden growled, "You've gotta be fucking kidding... that thing has nanomachines?!"

Snake took out his RPG-7 and fired a rocket right at the Metal Gear's cockpit, but when the explosion cleared, the cockpit appeared to be no worse for wear, causing the mercenary to curse while, to his right, Bayonetta asked him and Raiden, "You need that thing to be completely destroyed, right?" Raiden nodded, and Bayonetta, a cheeky grin having worked its way onto her face, continued, "I'll be sure to show that hunk of metal a good time!"

Snake, with a slight smile on his face, replied, "Whatever you say, Sex Pistols..."

Activating her Panther Within, Bayonetta transformed into a sleek-looking panther that had her jewelry adorned upon its neck, and she bounded over a volley of Bull's Eye Bills, before running up the Metal Gear's body, disengaging from Panther Within as she did so. EXCELSUS fired its plasma cannons before trying to swat Bayonetta out of the air with its reattached hand, but she narrowly dodged the gigantic fist, activating Witch Time as she did so.

Taking advantage of the fact that she could move at regular speed in the slowed time, the Umbra Witch lunged at the reattached hand with Afterburner Kick, and just as time began to move normally once more, she used a kick amplified by Wicked Weaves, causing the arm to do a full rotation from the force of the impact, while in the other hand, Solo used Kaswoosh to blast himself out of its grasp.

The sun blazed brightly over the Smashers' heads, but they paid it no mind, the humongous robot in front of them having the preoccupied.

* * *

Banjo leapt off a Shock Spring Pad before using Wonderwing to hit the Scorpion Sentinel once more, the fact that its tail wasn't up meaning that it did not retaliate with its laser. As the robot staggered, Sonic rushed in and blitzed it with a scissor kick before using a spring to jump up in the air and get a foothold on the wall. Sprinting down to the ground, Sonic kicked the Doc Robot before coming to a screeching halt and dashing back in with a sliding tackle, causing Quick Man, from inside the Doc Robot, to exclaim, _"I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!"_

Chuckling, Sonic thought to himself, " _I've heard that one way too many times..._ "

Sonic then Spin Dashed away from the Doc Robot upon looking at what was behind it, and before it could react, it was stabbed through the chest with a barbed point, and a voice roared, " _GET OVER HERE!_ "

Ridley yanked his tail backwards, pulling the Doc Robot into his waiting grip. With a vicious snarl, the former Space Pirate placed both of his hands on the Doc Robot's head and began to press down, the metal beginning to crumple the harder he pressed. The Doc Robot raised its arm cannon and aimed for Ridley's head, but with an annoyed snort, he bit the arm cannon clean off and spit it aside before driving the claws on his thumbs into the eyes of the Doc Robot, resulting in sparks flying out of its eye sockets.

"Back to the scrapyard with you." Ridley crushed the Doc Robot's head, causing it to shut down, but he still kept the body skewered on his tail before taking flight, having formulated a plan against the Scorpion Sentinel, who had just flung Ryu up into the air. With another screech, Ridley did a front flip while descending, slamming the Doc Robot's body onto the Scorpion Sentinel's head.

K. Rool, meanwhile, watched as Donkey Kong charged up a Giant Punch, and he quickly came up with an idea to both hit the robot _and_ humiliate his archnemesis at the same time. Pulling out his Blunderbuss, K. Rool adjusted the dial on the side to the 'Suction' setting and vacuumed DK just as he finished winding his arm up. Taking aim, he ignored Diddy's indignant shouts before firing Donkey Kong right at the tail of the Scorpion Sentinel.

DK, after a slight panic, reared back his fist and punched as hard as he could, blasting the tail right off the Scorpion Sentinel... and being launched right into the wall, muttering to himself, "I am getting that overgrown lizard back if it's the last thing I do," before fainting. Nearby, Meggy and Evan zipped right underneath the underside of the robot before turning around and jamming Splat Bombs down its gullet. After a moment, the explosives detonated, causing the robot to hack out a mixture of blue and orange ink.

Evan then flung a Squid Beakon onto the metallic beast's back, and Meggy Super Jumped towards the Beakon, activating a Splashdown mid-jump. When the massive explosion of orange ink subsided, it was revealed that there was a massive dent in the Scorpion Sentinel's back.

Roaring, the Scorpion Sentinel raised its claws and swung them inward towards Link, but the Hylian Champion backflipped and lunged in for a Flurry Rush with the Master Sword before sliding underneath it and smashing its underside open with both a shield bash and a trio of swings from a Savage Lynel Crusher, revealing circuitry and several ruptured vessels of oil, which began pouring onto Link.

Banjo then pulled Kazooie out of his backpack, and she cricked her own neck, saying, "We'll show you something, you nutty bucket of bolts!" as Banjo began to wield her like a shotgun, firing several Grenade Eggs at the robot, some of which went down its mouth and exploded, weakening the Scorpion Sentinel even further. Finally, the Luminary lunged forward with Metal Slash while Geno launched a Geno Whirl right at the beast's neck, lopping the robot's head right off.

Zelda then made sure the Scorpion Sentinel would stay down by using the Triforce of Wisdom to seal away the body, her hand glowing with a gold light as she summoned the triangle.

Ridley shook the Doc Robot's body off his tail and stomped on it, crushing it to bits before stalking towards the door, where he saw King K. Rool—now in his Baron K. Roolenstein disguise—punching an access code into the door and saying, "There! That should do it!"

K. Roolenstein punched in the code—which was 1996—and the door slid open, revealing another dark room.

Eleven raised the Supreme Sword of Light, and it emitted a golden glow, giving him a small level of visibility. Holding the sword in front of him as if it were a torch, the Luminary led the others through the room, only stopping when he heard a booming metallic laugh which came from nowhere in particular. The voice said, _"So, you have finally reached me..."_

The voice seemed to be getting closer, and it continued, _"Dharkon gave us free reign to work with weapons, technology, and tools from all sorts of universes! But you've exhausted most of our precious resources..."_ Something slammed into the ground with a loud thud, and one of the guns on Geno's arm clicked, followed by him shooting an explosive round towards where he thought the source of the noise was. The voice let out an exclamation of pain before shining a lantern in their direction.

The glow coming from Eleven's sword died down in response to the harsh source of light, and the voice continued, _"I can see that Mad Jack's operation worked well, Geoform 187."_

Ridley's teeth whirred as he snarled, "I'll fucking kill you when I see who you are."

The same booming laughter sounded once again, before continuing, _"Ah, but unfortunately for you, Mad Jack isn't_ completely _off his rocker. He left a contingency plan just in case you happened to get past him."_

Ridley suddenly clutched at the chestplate that made up what was formerly his organic torso, and he began to hack and splutter gibberish before collapsing over, his body twitching and convulsing as his robotic eyes rapidly brightened and dimmed at an uneven rate.

 _"He designed the armor to be an_ _excellent conductor of electricity, especially given that it was tightly fitted around his organs after Mad Jack cut off most of his skin. It unfortunately won't kill him, given that it was specifically geared to kill humans, but no heart can take such a shock and come out completely unscathed."_

The source of the voice stepped forward, and Geno also took a step forward, saying, " _You._ "

Smithy's tone darkened, and he said, _"I should've made sure that Exor destroyed the stars themselves when I began my plot. You and your new group of friends won't be making it out my factory alive, I'll make sure of it... your precious Star Pieces are no longer a factor!"_ before driving his hammer into the ground and causing a humongous metal pillar to slam down from the ceiling. Ryu leapt backwards, while Sonic raced over and scooped Red away from the incoming pillar. Sliding to a stop, the Blue Blur looked back to see that not only did the pillar have the face of a Thwomp on it, there were multiple pillars coming down from entirely random locations up above.

Meanwhile, Smithy swung his hammer at Geno, but the puppet leapt backwards before firing another explosive round. Smithy batted it back at Geno as if he were playing tennis, and Geno ducked it, causing the bullet to sail over his head and explode once it embedded itself in the wall.

Throwing his hammer at the wooden puppet, who dodged it, Smithy waited for his weapon to boomerang back to him, and it did, clobbering Geno in the head on its return journey. With his hammer back in his hand, Smithy pounded it into the floor and commanded, _"Smithy Gang, ATTACK!"_

Mack, Bowyer, Yaridovich, and the rebuilt Axem Rangers burst out of the floor panels, Axem Yellow lugging a miniature version of the Blade Breaker behind him.

Banjo looked at the horde of metallic creatures in front of him and whispered to his back, "Hey, Kazooie, d'you mind passing me that wrench of yours?"

Kazooie had just finished re-stitching a golden 'R' onto the backpack, and once she heard Banjo's request, she began rummaging through the bag, sifting through the repaired pieces of Samus' Power Suit before finding the wrench that she and Banjo had used to construct a sickeningly large amount of vehicles for that nutcase who went by the 'Lord of Games.'

Handing it to Banjo, she turned around to see that there were five colorful figures that were fighting the Kongs, and Kazooie quickly flipped over, catching Banjo off guard as she used the Talon Trot to swiftly make her way to where Donkey Kong and Diddy were. Once the two of them made it over there, she let Banjo take the wheel once again, and the bear went to town, clobbering the green figure with his wrench until a final smack sent it hurtling into a wall.

Eleven found himself facing the deranged bow and arrow, who let out a high-pitched laugh before firing a volley of Aeros, some of which managed to strike the Luminary in his sword arm. Plucking them out and using Heal to seal the wounds, he attempted to raise his right arm, only to find out that his arm would not move from the position it was currently in.

Letting out a cackle, Bowyer boasted, _"My Aeros are the best, nya! Tipped in neurotoxin, they are!"_ Shooting an Aero at Ridley's twitching body, only to miss because of Eleven using Woosh to blow the arrow off course, Bowyer simply laughed again and snapped his fingers, casting Static E! and causing a bright flash of blue electricity to arc all over the room, electrocuting any target it touched, regardless of whether they were friend or foe. The Luminary, a look of frustration having come over his face, shot a Frizzle in Bowyer's direction using his good arm, intending to burn him up where he stood, except Bowyer shifted his body so that the fireball zipped in between his body and the drawstring before careening into the wall, missing Sonic by mere millimeters.

The Blue Blur slammed on the brakes and peeled out in the opposite direction with a Spin Charge, leaving behind a small trail of fire as he did so. Running over some of Smithy's lesser minions, Sonic turned back to blitz a walking spear, who turned to face him before jamming his spear into the floor, causing hissing bursts of steam to erupt from the ground and chase after Sonic, who then ran up the wall before running back down, jumping up, and nailing Yaridovich in the head with the Sonic Eagle. Looking back, Sonic blew a raspberry before sliding underneath a laser that came from the miniature Blade Breaker and Spin Dashing into Axem Black, who angrily shoved an explosive into Sonic's hands in retaliation before pressuring him with several swings from his halberd.

Sonic struck back with a kick and began to run away, only to accidentally fumble the bomb and drop it next to Donkey Kong, who had Axem Yellow slung over his shoulder. Donkey Kong hurriedly kicked the bomb away from him and towards Charizard, who, after letting out a snort, grabbed it and threw it right at their main target: Smithy, who had just thrown his hammer in Ryu's direction, forcing the World Warrior to jump over it before using Focus Attack to soak up the return hit, as he had seen the hammer boomerang back to its sender just then with Geno.

Smithy caught the bomb and his hammer just as the fuse on the former ran out, and it exploded right in his face, obscuring him in a cloud of smoke. Mack looked over and yelled, _"Lord Smithy!"_ which earned him an overhead slash from Link.

R.O.B. nailed a Puppox's strings with his lasers before shooting a Gyro at the metal puppet's actual body, decapitating it.

Meanwhile, Pichu bounded off R.O.B. and used Skull Bash, driving herself into Mack before shooting an Electroweb from her tail to trap him.

The smoke cleared from where Smithy was standing, revealing that a hole had been made in his head as a result of the explosion. Undeterred, the metallic monarch raised his hammer and waved it like a wand, casting Meteor Swarm.

A shimmering barrage of stars flew in and struck everyone on the field except Geno, who dodged the assault by bobbing and weaving in between the stars before firing a Geno Beam at Smithy's head in an attempt to shatter it. The laser hit Smithy, causing a small crack to run down his damaged head, but he simply hit Geno aside using his hammer.

Banjo, meanwhile, pulled Kazooie out of his backpack and slammed her downward onto Axem Pink, and, after a startled squawk, Kazooie shot a Fire Egg from her mouth and ended up unintentionally melting the Axem Ranger down to her endoskeleton. Banjo cautiously slipped Kazooie back into his backpack and tiptoed away from the mess before bumping into Yaridovich, who, after smugly kicking the bear away, pointed his spear at Banjo in challenge while also creating multiple copies of himself.

On the other side of the room, Falco charged his pistol's laser cartridge before firing a shot, which ended up going through the head of the trapped Mack, killing him for good, while nearby, King Krusha K. Rool heaved Smithy's Smelter off the wall before unleashing a brutal flurry of punches, all while glass shards flew from the arms of the reptilian monarch.

Smithy waved his wand/hammer, and several of the tiles on the floor began to glow with a sinister purple hue just as he pounded the ground with his weapon, upending the glowing tiles and revealing several Spirit Orbs that dispersed across the room, capturing Link, Diddy Kong, Meggy, Evan, Eleven, and a still paralyzed Ridley.

Geno jumped over a Spirit Orb before shooting another away, and, upon landing, he took aim at the hole in Smithy's head and fired.

* * *

Wario's zombified body decomposed, leaving behind his yellow hat... and his body suddenly reconstituted, showing almost no damage at all.

A hollow-sounding rattle came from Death, and he flung several smaller scythes at the treasure hunter, who began running towards a window before ducking underneath it, watching as the scythes flew out the window. Once he was sure that they were gone, he ran back into the fray, only to almost fall into a dark void, the floor having been partially chewed up by Mattermouths that Death had summoned. Jumping up, Wario then landed butt-first on one of the skulls, stunning it and causing it to begin chomping in the opposite way.

Placing one of his hands on the floor, a black aura began to materialize around Death, and several revenants rose from the floor, each of them possessing eyes that glowed gold along with black veins running along their gaunt faces.

Robin shot a Thoron towards one of Death's revenant servants, and the humongous bolt of electricity completely pulverized their body, causing them to explode in a spray of blood and organic matter. The Levin Sword materialized in her hands once again, and she joined Ken in fighting against a revenant SWAT officer who was surprisingly crafty, utilizing a nightstick and a flashlight in conjunction with a riot shield. Slashing her sword overhead in an attempt to catch the zombie off guard, the revenant blocked the blade with his nightstick, his gaze slowly lowering to the tactician's level before he blinded her by shining his flashlight in her face and then following up with a bash from his riot shield, which was tipped with some blunt spikes.

Stumbling backwards, Robin wiped some blood off her face before shooting an Elthunder in the direction of the zombie, who simply held up his riot shield to block the spell before pulling out a taser and lunging towards Ken, aiming for the martial artist's neck.

Ken faded back before firing a Hadoken, forcing the revenant to throw up his riot shield while reloading the taser, giving the martial artist the perfect opportunity to rush in and use a Nata Otoshi Geri followed by an Inazuma Kick, managing to crack the polycarbonate that composed the shield. The revenant, an angry look coming over his face, tossed the battered riot shield aside and pulled out his UV flashlight, shining it at Ken's face in order to blind him.

Ken staggered, white spots swimming in his eyes, completely oblivious to the fact that the revenant was slowly walking towards him, flashlight raised above his head.

The revenant brought his flashlight down on Ken's head with a brutal amount of force, fracturing part of Ken's skull and then following up by shattering his jaw with a hard swing from his nightstick. As Ken fell to his knees, blood pouring down his face at an alarming rate, the revenant pulled out his taser and put it right underneath Ken's busted jaw, causing a high-voltage burst of electricity to discharge through his body.

The revenant kicked Ken's body aside with a displeased expression present on his face, and Robin shot an Arcfire in the revenant's direction before throwing her Bronze Sword at him, while behind her, Isaac began tending to Ken's injuries, first by using Cure Well to patch up his fractured skull and then Potent Cure to repair Ken's shattered jaw to the best of his ability. Switching to the Beast Lord class, Isaac snapped his fingers, casting Phoenix, and the mystical fire bird materialized before shedding one of its own feathers onto Ken's body and disappearing in a blaze immediately after.

Isaac watched as the Phoenix Down glowed with a bright red light before sinking into Ken's body, and the martial artist suddenly sat back up... before clutching at his head and groaning, "Ow..."

Isaac kneeled down next to him and cautiously pulled him away from the carnage, where Robin was fighting one-on-one with the same revenant from earlier, before holding up three fingers and asking, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Uh... Six?"

Isaac's eyes widened out of concern, and he hauled Ken onto his shoulders before walking over to Rosalina, who was sending an apricot-colored one of her Lumas out of the castle while whispering something to it, and the Adept asked, "Can you watch over him? I'm one hundred percent sure that he's got a concussion..."

Rosalina replied, "Of course," and created a barrier around Ken, allowing the martial artist to recuperate after the simple, yet brutal beatdown he had just received.

Pulling Goodstyle out of his overalls, Wario transformed himself into Arty Wario and painted himself a coin sack, which, upon turning back into his regular guise, he picked up and began to use to try and smack around Death with, all while laughing maniacally.

On the other hand, Luigi was jumping over several of the revenants with the help of Yoshi and his Flutter Jump, and Yoshi then bucked Luigi off his back, giving the plumber an extra height boost as he yelled in a panicked fashion before using his Poltergust to latch onto a curtain, which he clung onto for dear life as he fired a Thunderhand burst at Death.

Villager was frantically digging holes in the floor and cramming Pitfalls into them at an alarmingly fast rate, given that a horde of revenants were making their way towards him at a not-so-sluggish pace. Pikachu, standing on his tail, spun into a costume that resembled an archaeologist's outfit, allowing him to use Bonemerang on some of the revenants that were coming after Villager. Once Pikachu was done using the move, he switched back to his regular appearance, and Villager thanked him before pulling one of his many tools out of his pocket. Now armed with the golden slingshot, Villager said, "Pikachu, Electro Ball!"

Pikachu nodded, a smirk having worked its way onto his face, and he began to charge the move up on his tail before flinging it into Villager's slingshot, where, upon releasing the orb of electricity, it split into three smaller, but equally potent orbs that traveled into the horde and blew up some of the revenants.

Mr. Game & Watch smacked a revenant with one of his hammers before lighting them up with a torch, quietly watching as the zombie burned to ashes. Meanwhile, Pac-Man nailed another revenant that had snuck up on Game & Watch with his own bell before using a manifestation of Blinky to launch it across the hallway, and the two veterans shared a high five just as Game & Watch landed a 9 on another revenant.

Simon slid underneath one of Death's scythes before swinging the Vampire Killer outwards, aiming for Death's spine with the purpose of pulverizing the reaper's skeleton. Death floated backwards, but ended up eating a sack of coins to the back of his skull courtesy of Wario. Whirling around, Death flung a scythe at the treasure hunter before noticing that Luigi was still clinging onto the curtain for dear life. A low rattle sounded from his ribcage, and Death swung his scythe at Luigi with the intent of reaping his soul.

* * *

The baby Luma raced out of the vicinity of Dracula's Castle and towards the location where his Mama had told him to go, her words echoing in his head:

 _"Find Mario and aid him in his efforts to end the primordial conquerors of the cosmos... he is at Shroob Castle."_

Concentrating, the baby Luma transformed into a white ball of light before flying to Shroob Castle as fast as he could.

* * *

Lucas healed Lucario's more prominent wounds with PSI Lifeup while Mario looked through his humongous supply of power-ups, looking for anything that would assist his allies in climbing up the tower that would lead to the throne room of the Shroobs. Meanwhile, Arvus was trying to use the strongest healing magic he could find to rid Marth and Jigglypuff of their Shroobification, but even Omniheal was not working, causing him to clutch at his hair in frustration while Marth and Jigglypuff could only exchange helpless looks, resigned to the fact that they were basically going to stay in that appearance for the foreseeable future.

Terry was sparring with Bowser, and the Koopa King, much to the Southtown native's surprise, was actually capable of outpacing him and breaking through his ordinary techniques through sheer durability. However, every time Bowser landed a hit, Terry would retaliate with an attack that was just as powerful, if not more, culminating in Terry launching Bowser into a nearby column with, "Are you okay? BUSTER WOLF!" causing Mario to drop a Super Bell as he watched Bowser fly into said pillar with extraordinary speed.

Prying himself out of the column, Bowser looked back to see that his shell had made one hell of an imprint in the column, and after looking back at his shell to see if there were anymore damages, he acknowledged Terry with, "Not bad, shrimp," before trudging over to Mario, who had pulled out a Propeller Mushroom and a Boomerang Flower and was debating which one of the two would be better against Princess Shroob.

Mario, upon hearing Bowser stomp up behind him, pulled out the Super Bell he had dropped earlier and turned around, showing it to his rival. Bowser realized what Mario was asking him to do, and he quickly shook his head, saying, "Not this time."

A look of mild amusement came over the elder Mario brother's face, and he put the Super Bell away before pulling out a Frog Suit and asking, "Now how the heck did-a this thing get into-a my pocket?" Putting it back, Mario pulled out a Cape Feather, staring at it contemplatively, only to look up (they were on the observatory) and see a Wingull get blasted to bits by a swarm of Shroob UFOs.

Mario and Bowser exchanged startled looks as the former slowly pocketed the feather and called for the others to come over to the two of them. Once everyone was gathered, Mario began, "Okay, so it-a appears that we can't go through the sky, considering that-a the Shroobs have air traffic on lock."

As if to prove Mario's statement, the Shroob UFOs suddenly formed into a cloud that occasionally chattered with alien laughter.

Lucario watched as Mario pulled out... _something_ from his overalls, and upon getting a closer look, he asked, " _Is that a Wingull?_ "

Mario nodded before putting it on the ground, saying, "It looks like that-a our only way to the castle's top is-a through the inside."

Walking up to the front of the hollow bust of Princess Shroob, Mario noticed that there was a keypad that would open the door. Remembering all the information that he had accessed when he had Captured the computer in the basement of the castle, Mario typed in the code—2005—and the doors at the bottom of the dress slid open. Mario called for the others to come over, but before they could step in, a bright white light intercepted the group before dying down and revealing a Luma, who waved to the group and said to Mario, " _Mama told me to find you and help you!_ "

Mario, though slightly taken aback, said, "Eh, I-a don't see why not," before looking up to his hat and saying, "Cappy, you're-a going to have a new friend!"

"Huh?"

The Bonneter let out a surprised yelp as the Luma plucked him off of Mario's head before taking residence beneath the hat, and he said, "Er, hello... I'm Cappy."

" _Hi, Cappy! Let's be friends!_ "

As Mario chuckled at the exchange, he asked, "How did-a you get through the Shroobs' air patrol, though? I can't-a imagine them letting a ball of light fly past unchecked..."

" _I went low when I got to the castle's area to avoid the scary saucers! Then I flew up to where you guys were!_ "

As Mario nodded, Bowser huffed, "Okay, enough with the explanations, let's crush some alien heads!" before stomping into the insides of the tower, the rest of them following suit as the door slid shut behind them.

On the outside, a Shroob UFO reported in the Shroob language, _"Your Highness, the red mustache man and the demon turtle have reached your tower. Not only that, it appears that they broke into our dungeon laboratories, given how three of our four escaped experiments are with them. What should we do to stop them?"_

Princess Shroob almost crushed yet another goblet of Vim out of sheer rage, but she composed herself and sat back in her throne before taking another sip. After a bit, she snarled, _"Tell the tower operatives to commence Operation CT Squared right this instant."_

Surprised, the pilot said, _"But Your Highness, that's still in the experimental phase-"_

 _"I don't care. Commence Operation CT Squared. NOW."_

* * *

 **I've actually been slugging at this for over a year now, huh? Time sure flies...**

 **For the record, I don't hate _Nuts & Bolts_.**

 **Also, thank god that _Star Fox: Assault_ exists, because that means an expanded arsenal for the spacies.**

 **Hopefully you guys remember that _Mega Man_ / _Sonic_ crossover from all those years ago, otherwise you're gonna be confused by the last two weapons the Blue Bomber uses...**

 **Join Super Smash Prose, a Discord server where _Smash Bros._ fanfic writers can discuss their stories and get ideas and feedback (permanent code is gDK48ua)! If the code doesn't work, then send me a PM for the link or visit r/Fanfiction and search for "Super Smash Prose."**

 **Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Villager, Rosalina, Simon, Daisy, Isaac, Samus, Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Mr. Game & Watch, Eight, Ike, Ken, Robin**

 **Group 2 (Frantic Factory/Smithy's Keep): Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Mii Swo** **rdfighter, Red (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), Falco, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, R.O.B., Pichu, King K. Rool, Luminary, Geno**

 **Group 3 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar, Bayonetta, Solo, Corrin**

 **Group 4 (Shroob Castle): Mario, Bowser, Erdrick/Arvus, Marth, Jigglypuff, Lucas, Terry Bogard, Lucario**

 **Group 5 (Puppet Fighters with known whereabouts): Meta Knight, Young Link, Mewtwo**

 **Apollo Sanctum key pieces: 4/13**

 **P.S.: To that "anon" who's asking about when certain Puppet Fighters will be freed... you really think I'm gonna give away more story details for free?**


	39. Thunderstruck

**We're almost at the big four-oh!**

 **Updated Sif's location from the Sacred Realm to the Mysterious Dimension.**

 **I unfortunately had to scrap my ideas with Medusa and Dr. Eggman, given that the story is already complex enough as it is.**

 **Here's the first chapter of the new decade!**

 **Join Super Smash Prose, a Discord for _Smash_ writers to share ideas and have a good time! (code is gDK48ua)**

* * *

Matthew shot a Thunderhead towards Metal Gear EXCELSUS, but missed due to the Metal Gear digging itself a partial crater to low-profile the attack, which in turn allowed Bayonetta to score a three-kick combo into an uppercut from Madama Butterfly.

Wolf, having snatched Fox's sniper rifle out of the latter's hands, growled, "Get in close, McCloud, I can take it from here," before kneeling and taking a shot at the cockpit, which he managed to hit, but not damage, causing him to curse.

Snake, holding his rocket launcher, began running towards the Metal Gear with the intent of scaling it, though not before he caught a glance at Wolf, causing him to ask Otacon, "Hey Hal, did you ever think we'd see Sniper Wolf again?"

 _"Wha- oh, very funny, David."_

"Come on, you have to admit that it would've been a missed opportunity if I didn't make that joke."

 _"I suppose... anyways, I think that either Raiden's initial method or just sheer firepower will be enough to take this thing down if Bayonetta can't finish it off. Just make sure to use the flare grenades wisely if it comes down to that."_

"Got it, Hal." Snake then deactivated the Codec and fired another rocket before using his Cypher to get onto one of the Metal Gear's legs, where he saw Greninja and Raiden fighting off a hand that was rapidly switching between that and its sword form.

EXCELSUS fired its plasma cannon right at Matthew, who hurriedly used Chasm in an attempt to block the hit. The Venus Djinni absorbed much of the damage the attack would've done, but the force of the beam was still akin to being hit by a truck, and the Adept was blasted over the edge of the cliff and into a nearby forest that was littered with dead trees.

Pit watched as Matthew flew out of sight with an utterly dumbfounded look present on his face until the sound of Joker snapping his fingers to cast Eigaon brought him back to the action. Equipping the Upperdash Arm, Pit reflected a plasma burst back at the Metal Gear before using his Guardian Orbitars to reflect another, managing to leave a good mark on one of the robot's six legs. After that, he used the Power of Flight that Viridi's Spirit had granted him in order to get in close, where he saw Bayonetta breakdancing in order to dodge a swipe from one of the Metal Gear's two hands. Pulling out the Aquarius Blade, Pit slammed it into the Metal Gear's other blade arm as hard as he could.

Seeing frost run along the blade gave Pit hope, but that hope was just was as quickly dashed when the mecha shattered it almost instantaneously before switching the sword back into a hand and palming the angel right into the ground. The hand made another bid at Bayonetta, but she dodged in the nick of time, activating Witch Time as she did so.

In the slowed time, the Umbra Witch looked all around her to take in her surroundings. Greninja and Raiden were fighting the other hand, the Ninja Pokémon distracting the blade so that Raiden could sever the appendage. Below her, she saw Snake running towards one of the Metal Gear's legs, presumably to scale it. With a mildly interested exclamation, Bayonetta went to town on the arm she was facing, punching it clean off with rapid-fire Wicked Weaves. Time began to flow normally after that, and Bayonetta dodged a burst of plasma just as the EXCELSUS swatted Raiden away and slapped Greninja right off its leg, lunging for its arm in an attempt to reattach it. Bayonetta noticed, and yelled, " _Teloc vovim!_ " while directing Love is Blue at the severed arm. The Umbra Witch's hair began to leave her body, leaving her naked as her hair began to form the conduit that allowed her to summon the demons of Inferno.

A dark portal began to materialize underneath the arm, and Scolopendra, the Eradicator of Paradise, erupted from said portal, squeezing the Metal Gear's arm in between its colossal body and crushing it into pieces that were beyond the regenerative capabilities of the arm's nanomachines. The demon then receded back into the portal, returning to its residence of Frejentonta, and Bayonetta's hair formed back into her clothes.

The Metal Gear let out a ferocious screech and attempted to fry the Umbra Witch with another plasma blast, which managed to hit its mark due to Bayonetta being just a hair too close to the laser, and Snake watched as Bayonetta was blasted towards the edge of the cliff.

Gritting his teeth, Snake began scaling the Metal Gear with a determined expression, ducking underneath plasma blasts as he got up to its main body. The pilot saw Snake approaching, and they focused both of the plasma cannons onto the mercenary, dead set on obliterating him.

Snake rolled out of the way just as the cannons fired, and the resulting blast ended up blowing off one of the Metal Gear's own legs. The ground suddenly got dark around him, and Snake looked up to see that the remaining hand was hovering right above him, preparing to crush him. Snake rolled away once again, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Mega Man and Fox climbing up one of the Metal Gear's five remaining legs. Determined to provide a distraction, Snake chucked a C4 right at the cockpit, fully aware of the fact that the explosion wouldn't damage the cockpit. Clicking the detonator, Snake saw that the explosion had not even scratched the front screen of the cockpit, but he had a gut feeling that the pilot's wrath was more or less focused on him.

Quickly arming a landmine, the mercenary tossed it down at his feet before rolling a grenade onto it and running away just as the grenade exploded with the landmine. Looking back at his handiwork, Snake saw that the explosion had left a dent in the robot, but not one of significance.

Mega Man, Greninja, Raiden, and Fox all got onto the robot, and pulled out their best weapons; the Metal Blades, two water kunai, a HF blade, and nothing respectively, before looking up at the cockpit with steely resolve.

Noticing that EXCELSUS' remaining arm had changed back into a sword, Raiden zipped away in a flash, determined to sever the arm.

Mega Man threw his Metal Blades at the cockpit before jumping onto the portion of the robot which housed the cockpit and jamming a Wheel Cutter in there. Holding onto the blade, Rock was lifted up to the top of the cockpit, which, upon reaching, he began to try to break into with the Acid Barrier.

Greninja leapt up to the cockpit's glass cover and began prying at it with one of his water kunai. When that didn't work, he growled in frustration before jamming the shuriken on his back into the robot and dragging it down, leaving a massive gash near the cockpit.

Fox and Snake were working together on the robot's main body, with the former kicking the latter's explosives towards EXCELSUS' remaining arm to help out Raiden.

Bayonetta flew back into the fight with Crow Within and quickly yelled, " _Argedco!_ " just as Raiden sliced off the Metal Gear's arm. Her hair created another conduit, and upon looking back at the others, she shouted, "Get off!" Once everyone had jumped off, Labolas, the Destroyer of Fates, used one of its three heads to rip off a chunk of Metal Gear EXCELSUS' body off. As the pilot swiveled what remained of the mecha's body to face the source of the attack, Labolas fully emerged from the portal and tore the robot to shreds using all three of its heads, leaving the pieces aside as it could not consume inorganic matter.

Everyone watched as the demon receded back into Inferno, its teeth stained with oil. Wolf, still using the scope on the sniper rifle to survey the wreckage, let out a startled yelp upon seeing the pieces begin to gather in one location, and Fox, Snake, and Raiden ran over to Wolf to see what was going on.

Above the Smashers (and Raiden), the harsh sunlight intensified.

Snarling, Raiden was about to leap towards the remains of the Metal Gear, only for a roaring wave of fire from above to touch down on the assorted pieces, making him quickly change his mind.

Snake watched as the flames, bolstered by the intense sunlight, melted what remained of the Metal Gear into a pool of metal.

Up above, Mewtwo watched the Smashers with disdain, with them and the humongous robot he had just melted having disturbed its relative peace. Sitting down on a floating piece of rubble, Mewtwo used Future Sight, where it saw itself being brought down by the Incineroar that resided with the group below him. Softly growling, Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue as it used Rain Dance, and the harsh sunlight was cancelled out by a torrential downpour.

Mewtwo then concentrated its psychic powers on the stinging winds that the rainstorm had brought along, and it concentrated them into a single destructive funnel of wind.

The Genetic Pokémon then unleashed Hurricane, and down below, Snake and the others could only watch as the ripping winds got closer...

* * *

Matthew watched as the Metal Gear and the others gradually got further and further before they completely disappeared from his line of sight. Looking down, he saw that he was above a metal building of some sort, but he sailed over that too before falling into a forest.

Landing on his back, Matthew let out a grunt of pain as his momentum carried him into a tree, and he collapsed on the floor, thoroughly knocked out.

Later, when he came to, Matthew stood up and took a look around, noticing that the forest he was in was eerily reminiscent of the Tanglewood back home. Picking up a stick and using a small burst of Fire Bomb, Matthew made himself a makeshift torch and continued navigating his way through the woods. Eventually, he found that the ground was becoming more and more littered with battered shields, shattered swords embedded into the ground, and crumpled helmets stained with blood, possibly that of their wearers. The trail continued until he reached a spiky fence, and he pushed the gate open before walking in out of sheer curiosity.

There was a lone grave in the distance, surrounded by weapons and armor, and as Matthew walked towards the headstone, he saw that it was covered in dirt, grime, and foliage, prompting him to clean it off out of respect. Once he had lifted the last branch, he got a good look at what the grave said; a simple "Knight Artorias."

Matthew immediately withdrew his hand in horror, and on his back, the greatsword that had belonged to Artorias began to vibrate, causing a black aura to pool at the Adept's feet as Matthew unsheathed the sword from its scabbard. Staring at it long and hard, he was about to put it back at the knight's grave until he heard a voice say, _"Human..."_

Looking around wildly, Matthew stood up and pulled out the Sol Blade until he heard the voice say, _"My Soul_ _resides inside the cursed blade that thou bear... and yes, that tombstone bears my name."_

"Y-you're inside the sword?" Matthew sheathed the Sol Blade and waited for an answer.

 _"Indeed I am. I see that thou would to return my sword to my grave, yet that is not what I would to happen... being left as a prop to remember... I bequeath my sword to thou, human, to use for the good of thy world... as mine is as good as dead."_

"Is that so?"

 _"Yes._ _Alas, I see that the forest up ahead is tainted by the Abyss... thou must owe my covenant in order to walk through the Abyss as I once did."_

"Do you know where I can find it?"

 _"If my hunch is correct... Sif should be guarding it."_

"Who's Sif?"

A howl sounded throughout the woods, and Matthew's grip on the greatsword tightened as he saw a humongous grey wolf bound through the woods, wearing a ring on its ear.

 _"Sif... it's been so long..."_

The wolf bounded over and pounced on Matthew before inching her face ever so closely to Matthew as a soft snarl built up in her throat. Just as she was about to maul him, however, she noticed that the Adept was holding Artorias' greatsword, causing her to get off him and wait for him to get up.

 _"Master?"_ Sif stared at the sword in the teenager's hand with a longing look in her eyes, before continuing, _"Is that really thou?"_ Taking a look at Matthew, she snarled, _"Art thou the one who killed him?"_

Tears prickling in his eyes, Matthew responded, "I only did it to end his suffering."

 _"He's right, Sif._ _Out of everyone we were close to, thou were the only one whom knew the truth of my fate besides that warrior. And when we were both resurrected, a band of travelers that this human belonged to managed to see what I had become after running into Manus at Oolacile..."_ Getting back on track, Artorias said, _"Yet anyways, the human needs my covenant to traverse the Abyss-corrupted woods._ _May thou relinquish it to the traveler?_ _"_

Much to his and Matthew's surprise, Sif shook her head, replying, _"I swore to guard thy covenant to my dying breath."_ However, she turned her head to Matthew and said, _"_ _Human, if thou would to progress any further, thou must defeat me in single combat, and then I shall relinquish the covenant of my master, as thou will have proven thyself worthy of traversing the Abyss."_ Reaching for a particularly large sword that was embedded by her master's grave, Sif unearthed it and wielded it in her mouth, flicking the hilt so that the blade was be jutting out on the left just like her late master, causing a dumbfounded Matthew to stare in shock.

Matthew apprehensively reached for the Sol Blade, but Artorias said, _"Wait."_ Matthew pulled his hand away from his back and looked at the sword that was in his other hand as the knight continued, _"I_ _would prefer if thou were to use my sword, human... if she is to die, then I would rather it be my blade that reunites our souls."_

His voice showing hints of wavering, Matthew asked, "I-is there really no other way I can get the covenant? I _have_ to kill her?"

 _"I be afraid so, human..."_

Sif attacked first by lunging forwards and swiping the greatsword in a sideways arc, forcing Matthew to leap out of the way before attempting to strike back with a swing from the Abyss-tainted greatsword of Artorias. Sif bounded back, and, having switched to the Slayer class, Matthew used Wild Growth, a tangle of vines erupting from the ground in order to shackle the canine's legs in place. Seeing an opportunity, Matthew charged at Sif and slashed at her hind legs before retreating.

Breaking free of the foliage, Sif bounded over to Matthew and centered the sword in her mouth before doing two circular slashes that the Adept blocked using a recharged Chasm. However, just as the Djinni's power faded, Sif struck and leapt away, giving Matthew no chance to counterattack while also clutching at a slash wound on his right arm. Using Cure Well to seal up the wound, Matthew built up a surge of Psynergy in his left foot and stomped the ground, causing a crack that glowed with a golden light to race across the ground towards Sif, who was caught off guard by the eruption of Grand Gaia, which pushed her towards the Abyss-tainted woods.

Matthew watched in surprise as Sif appeared to be staggered, and he looked down at himself in marvel of the results of his Psynergy training with Sveta during the events of the Grave Eclipse. Spreading the Psynergy to the rest of his body, a reinvigorated Matthew leapt at Sif and struck her with a hard swing aimed at her neck, which only barely managed to scratch through her tough hide, and Sif did two side to side slashes, one of which Matthew blocked with his shield, while the other managed to leave a deep cut on his left leg, causing him to cry out in pain and fall to a knee.

Artorias' voice came from the sword once more, asking, _"Human, art thou okay?"_

Through pained gasps, Matthew managed to say, "Yes, I am," before rising to his feet and, upon switching to the Protector class, channeled another burst of Psynergy through his good leg, which manifested itself in the form of a Nettle. The spiky briars erupted from the ground and stabbed themselves in Sif's hind legs, causing her to yelp in pain, almost dropping the sword from her mouth as she did so.

Matthew felt a pang of guilt in his chest as he watched Sif stumble away from the thorns, her legs bleeding profusely. However, the wolf righted herself and swung the sword back to its original position while snarling at Matthew in defiance, not planning to relinquish the covenant peacefully.

His resolve hardening, Matthew was determined to take the covenant if it meant saving his friends, and he pointed the corrupted greatsword at Sif, who bared her teeth and let out a low growl in turn. Sif then leapt forwards and slammed the sword down onto the ground with killing intent, however, Matthew had rolled away, albeit in a staggered fashion, from the slow attack before sliding underneath her and thrusting upwards with his sword, causing Sif to let out another yelp as the blade penetrated her softer underbelly.

Getting out from underneath, the Adept took a good look at Sif, who was bleeding from her hind legs and chest, yet she still appeared to be unwavered, and, after another snarl, she flung the sword from out of her mouth, aiming for Matthew's head. The teenager ducked underneath the blade, but as he prepared to charge Sif, she tepidly stepped backwards, and Matthew's attack barely missed her... while the flung greatsword boomeranged back and left another cut in the Adept's already damaged leg, causing Matthew to yell in pain once again as the blood flowing down his leg became a constant stream of the stuff.

Catching the sword in her mouth once again, Sif did an upward slash with the greatsword, pushing Matthew back towards where her master's grave was.

Matthew helped himself up by using Artorias' greatsword, and his eyes began to rapidly flash between gold and purple due to his frustration having given way to pure rage and adrenaline, the bloody stream that was pouring down his leg no longer concerning him. Letting out a ferocious scream, Matthew swept his free hand outward, summoning three Sol Djinn and three Umbra Djinn to his side. Upon snapping his fingers, the six Djinn went to work, either bolstering the Adept's power or simply doing damage to Sif.

Sif tried to fight back, but the blinding glares of light accompanied with the murky darkness of the poison cloud that some of the Umbra Djinn had exuded simultaneously crippled her. Then the Adept landed a single, hard slash across the scruff on her neck with all the strength he had, and once the assault stopped, the dog limped forward out of the toxic haze, the ferocious flurry of attacks having sapped much of her strength. Letting out a pitiful whine, Sif swung the sword once, which didn't even reach Matthew, and when she swung the blade a second time, she yelped as she fell over, the greatsword falling out of her mouth at the same time.

Though the pain was unbearable, what with the combination of her hind legs being slashed and the poison slowly killing her from the inside, Sif attempted to right herself, to little success.

At the same time, Matthew calmed down from his rage-fueled assault, and, upon getting a good look at Sif, his emotions immediately switched to horror and remorse once he saw what he had done to Sif in his fury. Limping over, Matthew's shaky grip on the Abyssal Greatsword tightened as he limped closer to where Sif was lying. As he approached, Matthew heard Sif groan, _"Well done, human... thou hast proven thyself worthy of the Covenant of Artorias._ _The only thing thou hast left to try is finish the job... I only wish to see my master again."_

Though his arms felt like lead, Matthew, looking to be on the verge of breaking down, raised the corrupted greatsword above his head and stabbed it as hard as he could into Sif's neck, averting his gaze as the wolf's spasms from the poison that coursed through her veins coupled with the blade that was buried in her neck brought her a swift death, her body dissolving into dust.

When Matthew looked back, he saw that a ring, Sif's Soul, and a Spirit Orb which housed Sif's likeness were all that was left of the great grey wolf. Watching the Spirit Orb float into his knapsack, Matthew picked up the covenant and the sword before slipping the former onto the ring finger on his right hand—the one on his left already had his engagement ring from Sveta—and walking over to Artorias' headstone. The Adept stared at it for roughly fifteen seconds before collapsing to his knees and breaking down into a sobbing mess, the realization of what he had just done having hit him like a boulder.

Sveta's Spirit issued soothing words from within, telling her boyfriend that he had done what was necessary, while Artorias and Sif's Souls quietly watched the boy cry with sympathy. In the midst of it, Artorias asked, _"Sif, doth thou know what that luminous orb is supposed to be?"_

 _I do not, master, yet I take solace in the fact that our Souls are reunited once more... for all time."_

When he had finished, Matthew stood up and walked towards the dark, murky forest ahead, the memories of his two journeys across Weyard haunting him as he got closer.

 _"Sveta... all of you... I am so sorry... for everything."_

 _"Don't worry about me, lad... just help your friends... and give this to Eoleo, d'you hear me? It's the last thing he'll have to remind him of Chaucha..."_

 _"You foolish boy! Even if you save Sveta, I'll sacrifice your father to the Mars Lighthouse and finally, FINALLY, achieve the godhood I have been denied for three decades! So, what will your decision be, Matthew?"_

Matthew took his first steps into the forest, and the darkness that covered the forest immediately began to lick at his boots while also attempting to coil itself around his body. However, the Covenant of Artorias prevented the Abyss that tainted the woods from outright consuming him, so Matthew continued traveling through the forest, cutting down trees that blocked his path with an emotionless look present on his face. Monsters such as skeletons and zombies emerged from all parts of the forest, but the Adept cut them down rather easily.

Eventually, Matthew ran into a pulsating dark red bramble towards the end of the forest. With a bored sigh, he attempted to cut it apart with the Sol Blade, but as soon as the blade touched the thorns, they lashed out at Matthew's legs and bound them to the ground, while also doing the same to his sword arm. The Adept's stoic mask slowly began to crumble as an eyeball snaked its way out of the thorns and glared directly at him.

Dharkon's seed flashed purple, and he began the process of mentally breaking the Adept...

* * *

 _What Matthew saw next was a purple haze, and his head began to burn with unbearable pain. When the smoke cleared, he found himself staring at the globe of energy that radiated from the Mars Lighthouse. However, unlike his previous time there, he saw that all of his friends except Amiti were dead, and that seven of the eight Warriors of Vale were in critical condition._

 _His father was at Alex's mercy, the Mercury Adept holding a knife and pointing it at his father's chest. After a bout of grandstanding that Matthew had already heard before, Alex, his striking turquoise eyes boring a hole through Matthew, cruelly smirked before driving his knife into Isaac and tossing him into the well._

 _Matthew let out an anguished scream as Alex began to glow with a golden light, and he collapsed to the ground in grief as next to him, Amiti worriedly glanced up at his father._

 _Alex laughed maniacally as he began to levitate off the ground, the golden aura surrounding him getting brighter._

 _"You don't realize how much it pleases me to see you at my mercy, Matthew... and you, Amiti, my_ son _..." Alex spat the words out with such distaste that Amiti actually flinched, and he continued, "You are my biggest regret."_

 _Hearing Amiti's shaky breathing, an utterly defeated Matthew looked up to see that Alex was preparing to unleash some kind of attack._

 _"I've waited too long for this moment! CRUEL RUIN!"_

 _Matthew could only watch as a beam of light slammed into him and Amiti..._

* * *

As Dharkon released his restraints, he watched Matthew collapse to the ground on all fours, his breathing being racked with quiet sobs. Coiling himself like a snake, Dharkon mused to himself, _"This kid is a pretty powerful warrior... but his mental fortitude is weak. It took only one vision to break his spirit... do I want someone like that on my side? OF COURSE! But his allies will obviously suspect something if they see that he's possessed..."_

Jabbing a sharp end of himself into Matthew's back, Dharkon coiled himself around the Adept's upper body as his eye glowed red...

* * *

Daisy kicked her crown at one zombie and hit another one with an elbow strike before tossing it over her shoulder with a judo toss, the zombie crumbling into an assortment of flesh and gore once it hit the ground. Watching as her crown ricocheted off a statue and towards her, Daisy caught it before putting it back on her head.

Isaac prepared to unleash the Titan Blade on Death, only for someone to blindside him and leave a stinging cut on his face. As Isaac looked around for his attacker, he caught a glimpse of a hooked blade just before getting struck again. Wiping some of the blood off his face, Isaac erected a wall of earth all around himself and waited for his assailant to strike once more. Upon hearing a loud sound and a grunt of pain come from behind him, Isaac waved his hand, causing the earth to disintegrate into mud.

As Isaac turned around, he saw a masked man who had a pair of tubes connecting the mask to a metallic chestpiece, and was wielding a pair of hookswords. The man pointed one of his hookswords at Isaac and rasped, _"What brings you here?"_

Much to Isaac's concern, the man's skin was marked with grisly burn scars in addition to being a sickly grey color, and he silently shook his head, not having an answer to the revenant's question.

The man laughed, his respirator making a small wheeze as he did so, saying, _"I hope you come up with an answer before I tear your guts out,"_ before rushing at Isaac and blitzing him, causing the Adept to spin around from the sheer speed of the blow.

As Isaac struggled to regain his bearings, the revenant leaned on one of his swords and asked, _"So what's your name, kid?"_ before dashing away from a burst of Growth Psynergy that was shot out from Isaac's hand.

"Isaac."

 _"Isaac, huh?"_ Throwing a buzzsaw at the Adept, who narrowly dodged, the revenant continued, _"Name's Kabal. Former Black Dragon."_ As Isaac stared in confusion, Kabal continued, _"One of the most feared crime syndicates in Earthrealm?"_

"Earthrealm?"

 _"Ah, so you don't come from my world... never mind, then."_ Kabal charged again, swinging his hookswords at Isaac's neck with the intention of decapitating him, but Isaac barely blocked the strike, with the blades only leaving a tiny pair of notches in his neck. Pushing Kabal back with a blast of Gaia, Isaac then placed his free hand on the ground and channeled Wild Growth, the vines snaking over to the ex-Black Dragon and coiling around his ankles.

Kabal quickly cut the vines and sprinted away from the tangle of plant growth, before shooting a blast of gas from his mask towards the Adept, who switched to the Master class and used Gale to disperse it. Switching to the War Adept class immediately after, Isaac jammed the Gaia Blade into the ground, casting Grand Gaia. The ensuing eruption of rocks and Venus Psynergy threw Kabal backwards, and upon standing up, he cricked his neck before throwing a pair of buzzsaws at Isaac, who barely dodged the first one, but got clipped on his left arm by the second, distracting him long enough for Kabal to dash in and slash one of his hookswords along the side of the Adept's face, leaving a deep gash that tore through the skin and exposed Isaac's grit teeth. The Adept clutched at his head with his left hand, and upon taking it off, he saw that it was stained with blood that was dripping in a constant stream from his face.

Ike, having used both Ragnell and Alondite like a pair of shears to decapitate a revenant of a woman who wielded a pair of razor-sharp fans, saw what had happened to Isaac. As he attempted to run over to the Adept to help, he was accosted by a revenant that resembled a shaman. The shaman raised his weapons, a pair of tomahawks, and threw them at Ike, who blocked them by swinging his blessed blades in front of himself.

Meanwhile, Isaac, having used Cure to fix some of the damage (though there was still a hole torn into his face), unleashed the Titan Blade, but Kabal dodged the Psynergetic construct by dashing away. Twirling his hookswords, Kabal snarled beneath his mask before charging at Isaac and popping him up with a ferocious uppercut. As the Adept flew through the air, Kabal snagged his shin with one of his hookswords before slamming him onto the ground, and as Isaac bounced off the floor, Kabal hit him with a one-two punch combo before waiting for the Adept to rise again.

As Isaac stood up, having busted a few ribs from the impact, Kabal swung his hookswords over his head and buried the blade ends into the back of Isaac's shoulders, and tugged the swords with such force that their ends jutted out from the other side. As the Adept cried in pain, Kabal hoisted him up and slammed him into the ground using the swords.

Looking to his left, Kabal saw that the kid's sword was lying on the ground, and he kicked it aside before raising his hookswords to land the killing blow.

However, at the last second, Isaac used Halt, stopping Kabal before he could decapitate him. Using Cure on his shoulders to lessen the damage, he unsteadily reached for the Gaia Blade while pulling the Halt Gem out of his pocket and thinking to himself, _"At least this thing isn't totally useless..."_ As he watched, however, he saw that Kabal was slowly beginning to move again, and Isaac stopped using Halt as a result, causing Kabal to slash his swords across the ground, decapitating... absolutely nothing.

Kabal watched as Isaac readied himself once more, rasping, _"You're pretty good, kid... but NOT good enough,"_ before flinging a buzzsaw at the Adept's neck.

Isaac ducked, using Wild Growth afterwards, and the vines began snaking towards Kabal. Rasping, Kabal ran two buzzsaws along the ground to cut up some of the vines before jumping up and firing a blast of gas from his mask.

Backstepping away from the gas, Isaac raised several pillars of earth at the area near Kabal's feet before raising a pillar of earth underneath the revenant in an effort to crush him using the ceiling. However, Kabal had managed to slip away just in time, and the pillar of rock smashed through the ceiling. As Isaac looked up at the lowering pillar of earth in order to see if Kabal's crushed remains were there, he felt two sharp jolts of pain in his midsection.

Kabal had buried his hookswords into the Adept's sides, and he rasped, _"You've got guts, kid. Too bad I gotta rip 'em outta ya."_ However, before he could yank the swords out (along with his intestines), Isaac used Blitz, and the Jupiter Djinni electrocuted Kabal, damaging his respirator and forcing him to retreat.

Isaac, his vision beginning to blur as Kabal approached him, noticed that the revenant's breathing had changed to an unsteady wheeze, and he thought to himself, _"So he needs that thing on his chest to breathe, huh?"_ before backing away to where Peach was.

The princess, having just finished her healing magic on Richter, turned to her left to see that Isaac, who had two hooked blades sticking out of his back, was limping backwards in her direction. As Isaac stumbled, she caught him by the arms and hoisted him over to Robin, who had blown the head off of the revenant that she was fighting by burying the Levin Sword in his neck and letting loose with a hellacious discharge. As Peach approached Robin, she saw that the tactician was holding what looked like a pair metal tags on a chain, but she ignored that before tapping Robin on the shoulder and asking, "Can you help me heal him?"

Robin pocketed the tags before saying, "Of course," and looking down at Isaac. Upon evaluating the extent of the damage that had been done, namely that part of the Adept's face had been torn off and that he was losing blood by the second courtesy of the swords that went _through_ his abdomen, she quickly pulled out the strongest healing tome she had, Physic, and began working to heal the worst of his injuries.

At the same time, Peach noticed that Robin had suffered her own fair share of injuries from her fight, the tatters in her coat exposing numerous bruises and gunshot wounds that certainly weren't there when she had first attacked them under Dharkon's influence. Readying her healing magic once again, she went to work on the tactician's wounds.

Luigi jumped away from Death's scythe and ended up falling onto the floor, as he had been holding onto the curtain before he jumped away. Quickly righting himself, the younger Mario brother used the Poltergust G-00's plunger to latch onto a suit of armor, and with all his strength, he flung it at the Grim Reaper, who was preoccupied with the almost indestructible Wario, shooting a bolt of electricity at the ballistic suit of metal to supercharge it.

With a single gesture, Death obliterated the suit of armor with a pillar of dark magic before knocking Wario out of his path, his wrath having focused on the two Belmonts that stood before him, given how their bloodline was eternally fated to do battle with his master, compared to an annoyingly evasive pair of what appeared to be lowly plumbers.

Looking at Richter, Simon asked, "You've battled against Dracula?"

"Indeed."

"Tell me more once we slay the reaper."

Richter nodded, and flung his Cross at Death, who vanished beneath the floor. As the two Belmonts stared in confusion, the floor suddenly began to rumble, and Death erupted from underneath the ground, his body having reassembled into the skeleton of a prehistoric beast. Letting out a ferocious roar—scaring Luigi out of his wits at the same time—Death began chasing after the vampire hunters, with the younger Mario brother also joining them in fleeing.

As Pikachu, wearing a dragon costume, roasted yet another zombie with Flamethrower, he heard a nearby commotion going on to his right. Turning around, he saw that Luigi and the two vampire hunters were being pursued by a skeletal Tyrantrum, which caused him to do a double take. Spinning on his tail to remove the dragon costume, Pikachu, holding onto his Light Ball, began charging up for a Volt Tackle, and once he had gathered enough electricity, the Mouse Pokémon broke out into a sprint, running along the walls and jumping over hordes of zombies while Villager watched in awe.

Pikachu then rammed into the skeletal Despot Pokémon's tail as hard as he could, causing it to turn around and roar right at him, though Pikachu did not flinch at all, instead letting his cheeks spark in challenge.

Meanwhile, Isaac, having become slightly more coherent thanks to Robin's healing, mumbled, "The swords..."

Robin looked down at the Adept's stomach area, and after wincing, she said, "I doubt we're going to be able to remove those without inflicting serious damage onto yourself, unfortunately, so your best bet for now is to leave them in." Looking up, she saw that the masked figure that Isaac had been fighting earlier was steadily approaching them, his breathing coming out as a ghastly rattle.

"Electricity is his weakness..."

Robin took heed to the Adept's advice, and waved off Peach's healing with, "I can take care of myself later." In her hand, an arc of electricity raced across her Bronze Sword, transforming it into the Levin Sword. As her jagged blade began crackling with electricity, Robin pulled out her Arcfire tome and waited for the revenant to get closer, while behind her, Peach began healing the Adept.

Yoshi limped over, having allowed Eight to ride on his back after the two of them were launched into the statue earlier. Gently shaking Eight off of his back, Yoshi took a seat next to Peach, who was having difficulty in removing the swords that were embedded in Isaac's chest.

Pikachu's battle with the skeletal Tyrantrum that Death had morphed into was going very poorly, as aside from a single Iron Tail that merely fractured part of its ribcage, Death had controlled the entire fight, preventing Pikachu from accessing his bag of tricks by kicking him whenever he appeared to start spinning and generally snuffing out any attempts at an attack with Dragon Claw and Dragon Tail. Knocking Pikachu aside, Death saw that the Belmonts were backed into a corner, the two of them holding their Vampire Killers with grim determination etched onto their faces.

Opening his jaw, Death prepared to end the Belmont legacy in one fell swoop, but something stretched across the room and wired his jaw shut. Looking down, he saw that it was a whip made out of bones that were glowing orange, and the weapon's wielder forced him down on the ground with a hard pull.

Simon and Richter, once the dust cleared up, looked to their left to get a glance at their savior. Said person turned out to be a girl with dark blue hair, and she flicked her whip, causing it to link back together into a sword.

Spinning the Sword of the Creator in her hand, Byleth watched as it changed into Areadbhar, and she pointed the lance at the slowly reassembling skeleton, who ended up changing into the skeleton of a prehistoric bird which then proceeded to let out a ear-splitting screech.

* * *

As Mario and company walked up the stairs of Shroob Castle's main tower, they noticed that it was getting progressively darker, to the point where Bowser was forced to spit out a few bursts of fire in order for everyone else to even see three feet in front of themselves. Just as they reached the start of another flight of stairs, however, Marth heard the sound of something creaking, and he hurriedly gestured to Bowser to shoot a fireball in the direction that the sound had come from.

Though he was confused, Bowser obliged, and when he shot a burst of fire in the direction Marth had told him to shoot in, the flames revealed a pipe that had its grate opened up. Mario lit a fireball in his hand in order to get a closer look, but a sloshing sound from within the pipes caused the others to stop cold.

After a moment of absolute silence, a vivid green liquid splashed out of that pipe along with several others below it. Instantly recognizing the substance, Mario commanded, "Run upstairs! NOW!"

Everyone began to hurriedly make their way up the stairs, the green sludge beginning to rise up at an alarmingly fast rate. Arvus blasted his way up several flights of stairs with Kaswoosh and Jigglypuff floated all the way up to the top, while everyone else was forced to climb the stairs the normal way.

As Mario rounded a corner, having volunteered to stay at the back to make sure there were no stragglers, part of the ground crumbled and he lost his balance, falling into the rising liquid... but Bowser quickly caught his hand and growled, "Not on my watch, _I'm_ going to be the one that defeats you, not those alien freaks." Pulling him back up, Bowser continued his sprint up the stairs, and Mario followed, the toxic substance having caught up to where Mario had stumbled.

Once everyone got to where Arvus and Jigglypuff were waiting, Arvus pointed his sword towards the ceiling, saying, "There's a trapdoor somewhere, Jigglypuff heard something creak when she landed here..."

Cracking his knuckles, Bowser stepped to the front, retreated into his shell, and performed a terrific leap while spinning at the same time, managing to find and shred the trapdoor that led to the next level of the tower. Climbing up, Bowser yelled, "Come on!"

Once Jigglypuff and Lucas had gotten through, Arvus grabbed Marth by the waist and jumped off the platform, ignoring the frantic protests of the Hero King as he used Kaswoosh to shoot the two of them up through the hole in the ceiling. Lucario used Extreme Speed to fly through the hole with relatively little effort, and Terry jumped off before using Crack Shoot to propel himself towards the hole, followed by a Rising Tackle. While he ultimately fell short, Bowser and Lucario grabbed his legs and hauled him into the second level, leaving Mario alone to stare at the rising Vim.

Fixing his cap onto his head, Mario jumped off, did a Spin Attack with the help of the Luma residing in his cap, followed by him throwing Cappy outwards and bouncing off him to make it through the hole. As Cappy returned to his head, Mario looked around the new level to take in its surroundings.

It was yet another massive staircase, although it was rather well-lit in comparison to the previous one, and there appeared to be no immediately apparent traps or contraptions.

Looking down into the hole, Terry asked, "Why is it still _rising_?"

Alarmed, Mario ran over to where Terry was and looked down the hole. Indeed, the Vim was still climbing up to their level, and that was enough for Mario to urgently tell everyone to run up the stairs again.

While Jigglypuff and Lucario were taking different approaches to climbing, with the former simply floating her way to the top and the latter latching onto walls periodically to catch a breather after several bouts of Extreme Speed, everyone else was running up the stairs just as the flow of Vim reached the floor of the second level. However, upon rounding a corner, Marth stepped on a tile that sunk into the ground the moment he laid his foot on it. Up above, Lucario made an alarmed noise as the wall he was resting on suddenly jutted out, while Lucas was pushed off the staircase entirely by a random part of the wall that suddenly pushed itself out, with only a last-minute save from Terry preventing him from falling into the toxic substance.

As Mario and Bowser looked around, they saw that the walls were slowly closing in, and, after exchanging worried glances, Mario tossed a Super Bell into Bowser's hands before taking out a Cape Feather for himself. Looking at Arvus, Lucas, Marth, and Terry, Mario said, "Get to-a the top quickly! You'll get-a crushed if you don't!" gesturing towards the incoming walls for emphasis. At that, Mario took off while Bowser transformed into Meowser and began bounding up a wall.

Arvus looked at where the four of them were currently standing, and after looking up, he said to the others, "Follow me!" before running to a part of the stairs that didn't have anything hanging over their heads.

As Marth, Terry, and Lucas ran over to Arvus, Marth asked, "What's your plan?"

"We jump."

"WHAT?!"

"Are you _i_ _nsane_?"

"This'll work, trust me!" Clearing his throat, Arvus explained, "When we jump, make sure that you're holding onto a part of my body."

"But why-"

"No questions!"

Below them, the green liquid was rising fast while the walls were beginning to move inwards at a quicker rate. Sheathing his sword, Arvus scooped up Lucas in his sword arm while Marth and Terry each took hold of one of his shoulders, and he yelled, "Here we GO!" jumping off the stairs while Marth, Terry, and Lucas screamed in panic. Just before they hit the sludge, however, Arvus used Zoom, and he along with the other three rocketed towards the ceiling... which he promptly hit his head on.

Terry and Arvus fell onto a waiting Lucario, who, in spite of initially stumbling from the sudden weight on his back, managed to right himself and gently set them on the ground. Marth, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky, and fell straight towards the rising sludge.

However, Lucas, grabbing onto the ledge where the others save for Mario and Bowser were waiting, extended his Rope Snake so that Marth could take hold. The hero king snagged the serpent just before his boots touched the rising liquid, while to his sides, Mario and Bowser were almost done with their respective climbs to the top.

Up above, Terry grabbed onto Lucas' hand and pulled as hard as he could, with Lucario lending an assist. Lucas and Marth spilled over the edge, Lucas panting from exhaustion while Marth slowly patted the kid's shoulder before affectionately ruffling his hair as thanks.

Bowser leapt up onto the platform, ripping the Super Bell off his spiked collar as he landed, while Mario cracked the ground a little when landing after his final wall jump. Looking at the door in front of them, Bowser punched it open, revealing the throne room of Princess Shroob. Letting out steam from his nostrils, Bowser looked at Mario, who had the same steely look of determination in his eyes, and the two of them led the others into the throne room.

* * *

The bullet ricocheted inside Smithy's head casing before flying out of the entry point, but Geno noticed that something was shimmering within Smithy's head, causing him to fire an explosive round at Smithy in an attempt to expose what was inside.

At the same time, Link, Diddy, the Inklings, and Eleven exited their respective Spirit Orbs, each of them holding a Spirit in their hands. Looking towards the last one, they waited for a little bit before Ridley was thrown out of the Spirit Orb, though the fact that he was holding a Spirit in his hands indicated that he had succeeded in his task despite being paralyzed when he had first been sucked in. The other five watched as the Space Pirate unsteadily rose to his feet, but then he whirred his teeth and snapped, "What are you runts looking at?!" before taking flight, firing a Plasma Scream at the same time. The plasma beam ended up incinerating Bowyer, and Ridley followed up by jumping up onto the ceiling and digging his mechanical feet into it so that he could get a better view of the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Donkey Kong smashed Axem Black into the ground with an overhead axehandle, before throwing Axem Pink at Banjo, who used Breegull Bash to launch her into a wall, with Kazooie yelling, "Now that's what I call a home run!" Next to her, R.O.B. let out an unamused beep before firing a laser at Yaridovich's clone.

Sonic and Pichu were tag-teaming the real Yaridovich, who was much too slow to react to the duo's lightning-fast offense, which consisted of a relentless barrage of punches, kicks, and tackles with the occasional blast of electricity from the tiny mouse. As Yaridovich raised his lance among the chaos to unleash another Water Blast, Sonic kicked him in the shins and swiped the weapon before getting out of the blast range of a meaty Thunder from Pichu, which completely fried Yaridovich. Skidding to a stop, Sonic sprinted towards Axem Yellow, who was priming the miniature Breaker Beam towards DK, who was preoccupied with Axem Red. As he approached, Sonic curled up into a ball and slammed into the Breaker Beam with just enough force to push the cannon towards Axem Yellow's head. At the same time, Pichu shot an Electroweb at Axem Yellow, trapping him as the Breaker Beam built up energy.

The beam fired, and when it died down, all that was left of Axem Yellow was a tiny amount of yellow metal. Axem Red noticed, and turned around to look at the remains of his teammate, distracting him from Donkey Kong's incoming fist, which launched him into Kaptain K. Rool's Blunderbuss. The Kremling monarch then fired Axem Red at Smithy's head with such force that Axem Red burst apart, some bits of him functioning as shrapnel that embedded themselves into the weaponmaker's head, causing some cracks to run along it.

Smithy howled in pain, clutching at the side of his damaged head, and Geno opened fire, shooting a burst of stars at Smithy to capitalize on the opportunity. The stars hit the cracks, causing them to grow larger and deeper, but before Geno could finish the job, a large shape dropped down from the ceiling and onto Smithy's shoulders before burying their hands into two particularly deep cracks along his head. As Smithy stumbled closer, Geno saw that the figure in question was Ridley, who was slowly beginning to crack Smithy's head open like an egg.

In his panic, Smithy swung his hammer in an upwards arc behind him and clocked Ridley right in the jaw, but the cyborg's rage numbed him from feeling pain. Letting out one more ferocious roar, Ridley ripped open Smithy's head before jumping off and standing next to Geno, who stared at the former Space Pirate and asked, "What did you just do?!"

Snorting, Ridley snapped back, "What does it look like? I killed him." As Ridley's eyes focused their targeting lasers on the limp body, preparing to obliterate Smithy with a Plasma Scream, the body stood right back up, and Ridley glared at it, unwilling to back down.

Smithy's previous head had merely been a cover for what was underneath; a constantly shifting blob of liquid metal, a crooked jaw, and two blood-red eyes. His eyes smoldering with hatred, Smithy, in an almost demonic voice, roared, _"YOU DARE BEST ME?! FOR THAT, YOU SHALL DIE BY MY WEAPONRY!_ _"_

Smithy relentlessly smashed his hammer into the floor to the point where it gave way, and he along with everyone else fell into the basement of his factory, a room entirely made up of various replicas of his true head. Twirling his hammer, Smithy's head morphed into an iron maiden that had a hole in its front for his face, and he boomed, _"I'll obliterate you ALL as my revenge!"_ Driving his hammer into the floor again, he taunted, _"Bring it, you puny ants!"_

Donkey Kong beat his chest in challenge before slamming his fists into the floor and snarling, Red sent out Charizard, who spit out a tiny flicker of fire before roaring, and everyone else stood at the ready for a final showdown with the mechanical despot.

* * *

 **CT Squared = C** astle **C** rush **and T** oxic **T** ower **. Go play _Donkey Kong Country 2_ someday.**

 **I always had the idea of Psynergy being capable of being channeled through the body like the Ripple/Hamon from _Jojo's Bizarre Adventure_ as a sort of advanced practice of Psynergy, given how _Dark Dawn_ features a brawler among the main characters.**

 **And yes, I'm perfectly aware that Wario ain't a plumber.**

 **Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Villager, Rosalina, Simon, Daisy, Isaac, Samus, Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Mr. Game & Watch, Eight, Ike, Ken, Robin, Richter, Byleth**

 **Group 2 (Frantic Factory): Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Mii Swo** **rdfighter, Red (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), Falco, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, R.O.B., Pichu, King K. Rool, Luminary, Geno**

 **Group 3 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar, Bayonetta, Solo, Corrin**

 **Group 4 (Shroob Castle): Mario, Bowser, Erdrick/Arvus, Marth, Jigglypuff, Lucas, Terry Bogard, Lucario**

 **Group 5 (Puppet Fighters with known whereabouts): Meta Knight, Young Link, Mewtwo**

 **Apollo Sanctum key pieces: 4/13**

 **Oh, and one more thing; PLEASE don't plagiarize my story. I've worked on my content for well over a year now, and to see anyone steal it and pass it off as their own would be a massive slap in my face. This doesn't just apply to my story, either, don't plagiarize, PERIOD.**


	40. Settling Old Scores

**Look, at first, I wasn't planning on continuing this because of the plagiarism incident (if you're going to try and to look for them, don't bother, the account is deleted), but I ultimately decided that it wouldn't be fair to the people who want to see this be continued just because that one person ruined it all for them.**

 **It's gonna be awhile before I can get back into form though, just be warned.**

 **Anyways, here's chapter 40 (I'd normally be a lot happier about a milestone like this, but that plagiarism incident made me lose a lot of enthusiasm about writing for a while).**

 **Mandatory plug incoming... join Super Smash Prose, a _Smash_ fanfic Discord server where writers, artists, and readers can share their work and get all sorts of help! (code is gDK48ua)**

* * *

Mario and Bowser led the others into Princess Shroob's throne room, where they saw the alien monarch sitting on her throne with a goblet of what the two Star Children assumed to be Vim in one of her hands. Staring at the two, she hissed, _"So, the Children of the Cosmos have returned to my castle..."_

Snarling, Bowser cracked his knuckles and replied, "We're here to finish the job properly," snorting steam out of his nostrils as he did so, while next to him, Mario silently took out his hammer and let a ball of fire crackle to life in his other hand.

 _"We echo the same sentiments, once we kill you, we will properly raze your pathetic kingdom to the ground and rule on a throne of your skulls!"_ At that, Princess Shroob's throne morphed into a spider mech that, once she flicked a lever on one of the armrests, surrounded the throne in a blue force field.

Lucario quietly snarled before lunging at the force field and attempting to drive the spikes on his paws into the barrier, which, while it didn't reach Princess Shroob, visibly caused the shield to flicker and turn green. Princess Shroob grimaced from within her shield and pulled out a customized Shroob Blaster, which she set to the 'ray' function and shot at Lucario, who opted to take the hit in order to power up his Aura. Once the laser made contact, Lucario felt a surge of energy course through him, but before he could capitalize, he was shaken off the spider mech and narrowly avoided a descending leg that came close to crushing his head. Standing back up, Lucario began charging up an Aura Sphere while Jigglypuff floated above him, dodging laser bolts and retaliating with Tri Attack occasionally.

Marth weaved around underneath the mecha, slicing at its legs in order to damage the robot's necessary mechanisms, while Arvus launched himself into the air with Kaswoosh to hit the barrier head-on with Zapple, causing it to change from green to yellow. Once he landed, Arvus, much to his shock, saw that the mecha had jumped up and was casting its shadow over Lucas. Before he could say anything, however, a flash of blue raced by him and scooped Lucas away just as the throne mecha made impact, creating a small crater upon impact.

The blue blur slowed down, revealing itself to be Lucario, who said, " _I've got the kid, don't worry,_ " before zipping up and away with Extreme Speed. Facing Princess Shroob, Lucario's hands began to glow with a silvery sheen as he used Double Team to give himself a short burst of momentum forward, and he unleashed Bullet Punch on the shield covering Princess Shroob's throne, changing it from yellow to red. Just as he was about to perform a pivoting single-leg kick on the barrier, however, Princess Shroob caused her mecha to lurch forward, slamming into the Aura Pokémon and causing him to lose focus.

It was at that point where the alien monarch decided to withdraw the spider legs from her throne and float up and away from the intruders, floating away just as the tip of a geyser of energy licked at the bottom of her shield. Down below, Terry cursed underneath his breath for not firing off Power Geyser earlier.

Mario and Bowser both noticed that Princess Shroob's throne was steadily getting further and further away, and Mario turned to Bowser before asking, "Is-a it tossing time?"

Bowser grumbled and reluctantly nodded, allowing Mario to grab his tail. With relatively little effort, Mario heaved him up and spun him around three times before launching him towards Princess Shroob, who was caught off guard by the sight of the Koopa King seemingly _flying_ through the air in an attempt to get her.

Bowser then performed a Ground Pound on the shield, shattering it once he made contact, and then grabbed Princess Shroob from off her throne. Bowser ignored what he assumed to be curses coming from the alien as he spun around in the air before throwing her as hard as he could into the ground, doing another Ground Pound as he himself began to plummet in order to maximize the damage that he did.

Mario watched as Princess Shroob made impacted with the ground, wincing as he saw her make impact. Before he could raise his hammer, Bowser came crashing down on her bottom first, and Mario was struggling to not laugh from just how sudden that particular attack had been. Standing from the small crater he had made, Bowser saw Mario with a hand over his mouth, trying—and failing—to hide what was clearly laughter, and he asked, "Hey, what's so funny, Mario?"

Through a couple of small snickers, Mario said, "I'm sorry, the way you-a just _landed_ on her was too funny," before quickly recollecting himself and asking his rival, "Is-a she dead?"

Looking back, Bowser saw that Princess Shroob was beginning to pull herself back up, and quickly tried to torch her with a burst of flames. However, she teleported out of harm's way before firing a bolt of energy from her hands at the Koopa King in retaliation.

Mario said, "I'm-a gonna take that as a no," before swinging his hammer at the energy bolt with a tremendous amount of force. The blast was bounced back to Princess Shroob, who deflected it with a simple flick of her hand before teleporting behind Mario and pointing her Shroob Blaster at the back of his head. Before she could fire, however, Jigglypuff barreled right into her with Rollout, causing her to be driven into a nearby wall, compounded with Arvus launching a Kafrizz in an attempt to burn her up.

Princess Shroob teleported away and launched a spread of energy orbs towards the group, but Lucas leaped forward and used his PSI Magnet to draw them all in, effectively rendering the attempted attack useless. Snarling, Princess Shroob teleported above the Smashers and swept her hand in a downward arc, launching what appeared to be a corrupted Starman at the group, and the Shroobified Starman slowly began to rotate around them as the purple glow around it grew brighter. Once it had become nothing more than a humongous purple globe of light, it began to home in on the nearest person, that being Terry.

" _TRIPLE GEYSER!_ " Terry punched the ground, and three large pillars of energy erupted out of it to intercept the orb, but the orb managed to punch through the geysers and continued heading towards the Southtown native. Before it made impact, however, Mario jumped in front of Terry and smashed the orb right back, and Princess Shroob batted it right back with a backhand, setting up what looked to be a long and arduous game of tennis.

However, Marth had managed to sneak behind Princess Shroob undetected, as she was too focused on trying to repel the globe of energy, and he reared back before thrusting the Falchion forwards, managing to stab through her with the tip of the blade. Pulling the Falchion out of her chest, Marth looked at his blade, seeing the reflection of his disfigured face, and he pondered to himself, _"If what Mario said about those things being weak to baby tears is true, then I can't_ wait _until I find Kirby again so he can fix up Jigglypuff and I."_

Mario saw Marth pull his sword out from Princess Shroob, and he capitalized on the distraction by smashing the globe back at her with all the strength he could muster, causing a tremendous explosion that he and the others shielded their eyes from. When the explosion died down, Princess Shroob was lying on the ground belly first, some parts of her face having been blasted off to reveal her skull. The two Star Children could only stare at her with bated breath, while everyone else stared with a mix of horror and surprise. Mario was watching her every move vigilantly, while Bowser was anticipating some sort of last-ditch attack from her.

Turning her head up to stare at Mario and Bowser, Princess Shroob hissed, _"Now it's your turn... sister... DESTROY THEM!"_ before collapsing to the ground and exploding in a starburst of pink energy.

Mario whispered to Bowser, "Guard up, now," and the Koopa King did so as Mario turned to the others and said, "Don't let your guard down."

"But why-"

"Don't ask!" Marth was surprised at Mario's sudden outburst, but obeyed as Mario began looking around for something.

His curiosity refusing to die down, the Hero-King looked at Bowser and asked, "What's going on?"

Bowser said nothing as he waited for Mario to make a move, but before the latter could do so, the ground trembled from a loud stomp. Mario began looking around frantically for the source of origin, but Lucario sensed something moving in the far back of the throne room, and telepathically communicated to Mario, _"Look at that archway,"_ gesturing to a pair of blood-red eyes just lurking in the shadows.

 _"I LAUGH AT YOU... FOOLISH CREATURES."_ The figure stepped out from the dark part of the room, revealing themselves to be a stocky, big-headed Shroob with a crown on their head. Mario grit his teeth as the grip on his hammer tightened, and Bowser's mouth slowly began to build up heat as he cricked his neck and cracked his knuckles once again. From there, Elder Princess Shroob continued, _"YOU THOUGHT THAT YOU HAD EXTERMINATED THE SHROOBS FOR GOOD... BUT I PROMISED THAT WE WOULD ONE DAY DANCE ON THE ASHES OF YOUR PATHETIC LITTLE KINGDOM... IT IS TIME FOR ME TO FINISH WHAT MY DEAR, SWEET SISTER STARTED."_

"No, Mario, Bowser, seriously, _just what is going on_?"

 _"SO THE EXPERIMENT CAN TALK. HOW AMUSING."_ After another pause, Elder Princess Shroob looked at Mario and Bowser, saying, _"THE RED MUSHROOM HEAD AND THE IDIOTIC KOOPA WANT TO STOP ME ONCE MORE."_ Taking a look at the other four creatures of varying species behind them as well as the two Shroob-hybrid experiments, after noticing that none of them were the man—or baby—in green, the princess laughed and asked, _"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR USELESS BROTHER, MARIO? IS HE SOMEWHERE CRYING IN A DITCH-"_

Mario had finally reached his breaking point, and he ran up to her, smashing his hammer into her face as hard as he possibly could. However, the attack seemed to do almost nothing to the senior Princess Shroob, and she laughed before pulling a lever that was next to her late sister's throne. The roof to the Princess Shroob statue opened up, revealing a sky of purple clouds that occasionally flashed with black lightning as the floor began to rise up and out of the castle's general vicinity. Once the platform stopped rising, Elder Princess Shroob proclaimed, _"I WILL DESTROY ALL OF YOU!"_ before charging at Bowser shoulder-first in an attempt to knock him off the platform and send him to his doom. However, Bowser braced himself once the evil monarch made contact with him, and he dug his heels into the platform, shredding metal as he approached dangerously close to the the edge of the platform.

Letting out a ferocious roar, Bowser opened his mouth and let loose with a roaring gout of white-hot flame, leaving severe burns on Elder Princess Shroob's face and forcing her to retreat. Bowser chuckled before leaping back to the center of the platform, where he saw that Elder Princess Shroob had summoned a pair of Shroob UFOs to assist her.

Elder Princess Shroob raised her hand, and the two UFOs rose higher before unveiling their blasters and opening fire on the platform, forcing the Smashers to perform some deft dodges in order to avoid the laser storm. Lucario used Extreme Speed to fly above the UFOs, and as they focused their turrets onto him, he then used Double Team, spawning two copies of himself to take the lasers as he lunged underneath the UFOs and ripped off their blasters. Using Double Team once again, Lucario warped onto the top of one of the UFOs and impaled one of the Shroobs on his paw spike before ripping it out of the UFO's body, which crashed onto Elder Princess Shroob on the platform below. Looking at the alien's corpse, Lucario blasted it off with an offhand Force Palm before focusing on the second UFO, stabbing his paw spike into the slit where the Shroob's eyes were and blasting it with Aura, blowing the top of the Shroob pilot's head clean off, and he grabbed the UFO before tossing it down at Princess Shroob like it was a discus before rushing down with Extreme Speed to get a good strike in on her head. However, in doing so, Lucario's paw made contact with Elder Princess Shroob's crown, which shot a jolt of electricity from its gem at the attacker.

The senior Shroob princess turned around and laughed at Lucario's failed attempt in attacking her, taunting, _"MY CROWN CANNOT BE OPERATED BY ANYONE BUT MYSELF... A PITIFUL EFFORT!"_ before firing a pink energy bolt from her left hand at Lucario. Before the attack could make contact with the Aura Pokémon, however, Jigglypuff quickly used Ally Switch to make Lucario and Lucas switch positions, and once the deed had been done, Lucas activated his PSI Magnet to absorb the blast. Elder Princess Shroob snarled out of rage before summoning three Shroob UFOs.

The trio of saucers emerged from behind Elder Princess Shroob, the three of them struggling to hold up a large Shroob Meteor. Waving an arm forward, Elder Princess Shroob signaled for the UFOs to release the meteor, which they did, sending the meteor hurtling towards the Smashers. However, Mario pulled out his hammer and smacked the meteor upwards while at the same time, Terry leapt upward and performed a Power Dunk on the rock, sending it back towards Elder Princess Shroob.

Undeterred, Elder Princess Shroob smacked it back at them with a mere backhand, and the meteor began flying towards Mario at a faster speed and a more horizontal trajectory, giving him no time to react. Before it could make contact, however, Bowser shoved Mario out of the way and shattered the meteor with a single punch, before unleashing a salvo of fireballs at the Shroob UFOs up above, shooting them out of the sky.

Letting out an almost bestial roar, the elder Princess Shroob screamed, _"YOUR KINGDOM WILL NEVER LAST AS LONG AS WE STILL EXIST! THE SHROOBS WILL DANCE ON THE DESECRATED RUINS OF YOUR CASTLES AS WE DRIVE YOUR WORLD TO EXTINCTION!"_

Chuckling, Bowser snarled, "Nice try, but that kinda talk doesn't work on ME! You're saying you'll drive the Mushroom World to extinction? NOT ON MY WATCH! I'LL MAKE SURE YOU _STAY_ DEAD THIS TIME WHEN I KILL YOU!" before unleashing a roaring torrent of flame at Elder Princess Shroob. Once he was done, Bowser fired another burst of fireballs, except that time, they were blue and began homing in on Elder Princess Shroob, who summoned another trio of Shroob UFOs to take the hits for her. Bowser then followed up with an utterly relentless barrage of poison-tipped claw slashes and electricity-infused punches on the Shroob leader after seeing Elder Princess Shroob summon her entire armada of Shroob UFOs. After one particularly hard scratch made its mark, Bowser turned to the others and yelled, "Take care of those!" before being shoulder tackled by Elder Princess Shroob.

Mario began by taking out a Red Star, and once it activated, he took flight, giving the Shroobs UFOs a target to focus on as Jigglypuff, Lucario, and Lucas also took to the skies, the latter using PK Thunder 2 to launch himself up on top of a Shroob UFO. The Shroob UFOs that were not focused on Mario began to concentrate their aim on Lucas in response, but he pulled out the Franklin Badge he had worn in his final showdown against the Masked Man and put it on while pointing his hand to his back so that he could cover the laser fire that would be aimed at his back, all while sporting a determined expression on his face. Pointing his free hand at a Shroob UFO that was in front of him, Lucas shot a burst of PK Love towards his front, and the Shroob UFO exploded.

At the same time, Jigglypuff let loose with Thunder, the lightning bolt jumping from saucer to saucer until she let up with the assault, while at the same time, Lucario zipped up to her level with Extreme Speed and yelled out, " _AURA BOMB!_ " before hurling a gigantic Aura Sphere in front of himself. The humongous globe of Aura obliterated the few Shroob UFOs that came into contact with it, and after that, Lucario mused to himself, _"Not my smartest use of an Aura stockpile,"_ before going on a more physical offensive, one that consisted of using Blaze Kick on one Shroob UFO to send it careening into another, freezing one solid with Ice Punch before using Extreme Speed once again to blitz right through it, shattering it in one go. Whirling around, Lucario shot a Flash Cannon burst at one UFO before headbutting another one that had tried to ram into him with Iron Head.

Arvus looked up to see Mario attracting the Shroobs' line of fire, and he turned to Terry and Marth as he ran to the edge of the platform, calling out, "You two go help Bowser! I got an idea!" as he jumped off the platform, Terry and Marth gawking in shock at his seemingly suicidal move before the two of them ran to where Bowser was, the Koopa King once again forced into a brawler lock by Elder Princess Shroob.

The wind whipped around Arvus' face as he fell towards the ground, and once he was sure that the aliens could no longer see him, he used Zoom, launching himself so high up that he passed through a large purple cloud just after seeing Mario spin through a couple of UFOs. After being sent into a small coughing fit due to the toxicity of the clouds, Arvus began his descent, and upon breaking through the clouds once more, he saw that he was right in the center of the Shroob UFOs. Looking over at Mario, Arvus called out, "Hey, Mario!"

Mario stopped mid-flight and pulled out a Super Star to give himself a reprieve from the constant fire he had exhausted himself from dodging before looking up, where he saw that Arvus was levitating with the help of a pair of tornadoes—Swoosh, as Arvus had called the ability—and he asked, "What-a is it?"

"I'm going to need you to catch me after I do my part!"

"Wait, wha-"

Arvus dispelled his Swoosh and landed on top of a UFO, and a purple glow began to surround his body as he yelled, "Here it comes! _MAGIC BURST_!"

A rapidly-expanding purple globe of pure mana exploded from Arvus, and every single Shroob UFO that had been firing at Mario was caught up in the explosion, near single-handedly obliterating the entire fleet of Shroobs. Once he was done, however, Arvus began to fall towards the platform, and Mario quickly pulled out a Cape Feather, swooping down and catching him just before he made impact. A series of explosions made the two of them look up, where they saw Lucario holding on to a fully puffed up Jigglypuff while holding Lucas in his other arm. Once the three of them were low enough, Lucario jumped down and let go of Lucas.

Terry caught a Shroob Chomp that Elder Princess Shroob had sicced on him, Bowser, and Marth by grabbing its chain, and, with a loud grunt, he swung it over his head and flung it at Elder Princess Shroob, who caught it and hurled it right back at Terry. Before Terry could react, however, Bowser slid in front of him on all fours and performed a spinning shell-first leap, launching the Shroob Chomp away from the platform altogether, while in front of them, Marth had fenced his way through Elder Princess Shroob's wild, unfocused strikes, before very narrowly—and deliberately, given how he had seen Lucario's failed attempt to strike her in the head—missing her crown with his final thrust and managing to stab her in the head, quickly retreating before she could do anything to him.

Elder Princess Shroob roared in pain before activating the jewel on her crown, which began to glow and emit a gas, surrounding her in a green-and-black fog of what appeared to be some sort of toxin or stimulant, and everyone shielded their faces as the glow from her crown grew brighter to the point that it was blinding.

After a little bit, the light died down, and everyone let their guards down just as the last of the fog subsided, giving themselves a good look at the monstrosity that stood before them.

Elder Princess Shroob had revealed her true form with the activation of her crown, but the toxin that had resided within had given her body additional, drastic alterations. Her skin had transformed into a sickly shade of acid green, her dress had changed from magenta to black, and just above her crown was a crack in her head, which split open like some sort of mouth to reveal a small inner mouth surrounded by wriggling purple and green tentacles. Elder Princess Shroob then let out a horrific roar that forced Mario and Bowser, the two closest to her, to cover their ears to blot out the sound. Once she stopped roaring, Elder Princess Shroob revealed six arm tentacles from the places where her sleeves used to be, three on each side, and stabbed two of them at a terrified Lucas, who, despite his obvious fear, blasted both of them with a burst of PK Love, causing them to retract.

Lucario was similarly shocked, but he kept his composure and grabbed onto a tentacle that had sprung from the maw on top in an attempt to skewer him and ripped it off, tossing it to the ground below them in disgust.

Mario, being the only one of the eight Smashers present to have fought the elder Princess Shroob in the past (in a literal sense), pulled out an Ice Flower and hurled two powerful blasts of ice at her legs before grabbing his hammer. The weapon's head gradually became frosted over as it was slowly imbibed with the power of ice, and after letting out a chilly puff of smoke from his mouth, Mario swung his frozen hammer as hard as he could at the two spots of ice he had created on the Shroob leader's legs, shattering both of them in a single swing and dealing a heavy blow to her legs, causing her to roar in pain. Turning back to Bowser, Mario asked, "You-a think you can reach that-a crown from down here?"

Rolling his eyes, Bowser replied, "Of course I can! What's with the question, Mario?"

The crown emitted another harsh glare, and Mario answered, "Because destroying that-a crown was the only way Luigi and-a I were able to defeat this creature," smacking aside a tentacle that was creeping towards him.

Bowser sprung off the ground in one effortless bound and landed a hard slash on the crown's jewel, only to get snared up by the tentacles from the maw on top of the Shroob monstrosity's head, while the maw opened up even further, revealing the inner mouth; a small, rounded piece of flesh that had a set of razor-sharp teeth, and perhaps most disturbingly, it seemed to be able to think on its own, given how it began searching around for any prospective targets to eat, a slimy green drool dripping from its fangs. Eventually, it found Bowser, and the maw began sliding its way towards the Koopa King, who was clearly startled by the alien-looking 'creature.' Regardless, Bowser snarled and shot a burst of fire straight at it, which caused both it and the alien abomination that was Elder Princess Shroob to screech in pain, and the tentacles released Bowser, who gave one final parting shot of fire towards Elder Princess Shroob's crown, shattering the jewel just as he landed on the ground in a three-point stance, while next to him, Marth parried away a trio of arm tentacles as Terry delivered another hard blow to Elder Princess Shroob's legs in the form of a Crack Shoot followed by a Burning Knuckle, which proved to be the tipping point.

Elder Princess Shroob let out another roar as her legs flashed between a sickly green and an ashy black before exploding in a burst of black energy. Generating a humongous ball of energy in her mouth, Elder Princess Shroob launched it at Mario, who smacked it back at her. Elder Princess Shroob then batted the energy ball at Bowser, who snarled and punched it right back at her face, causing a massive explosion that disoriented the Shroob monarch. Bowser looked at the other six Smashers before roaring, "ATTACK!"

Lucario grabbed a pair of arm tentacles that were making their way towards Lucas and ripped them off, causing them to spurt purple blood everywhere. Snarling, Lucario rushed upwards with Double Team before using Bullet Punch on Elder Princess Shroob's chin and following up by hurling an Aura Bomb into the alien monarch's upper maw, blowing apart part of Elder Princess Shroob's head once it went off inside. Down on the ground, Arvus put away his sword before taking out no less than three vials of magic water and downing them in rapid succession to restore his mana due to him having exhausted nearly all of it with the Magic Burst from earlier. Rolling out of the way of a tentacle that had tried to crush him, Arvus used Kacrackle, sending a wave of icicles into the Shroob princess' body and resulting in yet another ear-splitting roar of pain.

While the Shroob monstrosity appeared to be incapacitated, Mario looked at Bowser, who nodded and shot a humongous ball of blue fire up into the sky. Everyone looked up and got clear from what looked to be the impact zone, which was where the immobile Elder Princess Shroob was standing. Mario jumped up, his hands blazing with white-hot flame, and with a yell, he spiked the blue fireball down onto Elder Princess Shroob, causing a massive explosion that, once it cleared up, left a deep indent in the platform that was surrounded by scorch marks as well as the charred body of Elder Princess Shroob's true form, which glowed with a purple light before transforming back into her regular form, albeit with a deep crack in her head, in addition to the severe burn wounds her true form had sustained from Bowser and Mario's tandem attack. Staring at the two Star Children, she snarled, _"FOOLISH CREATURES... THOUGH YOU MAY HAVE BESTED ME, WE SHROOBS WILL LIVE ON... WE WILL RULE OVER THE RUINS OF YOUR PATHETIC LITTLE KINGDOM..."_ before exploding in a wave of black energy, leaving behind a little mushroom as the only trace of her.

Folding his arms, Mario looked at Bowser and said, "Burn it. I'm not going to deal with someone accidentally eating that thing and getting possessed like you did." Bowser did so, and the mushroom let out a ghastly wail as it burned to ash. Once the deed was done, Mario kicked at the ash, sending it off the platform, letting out a sigh of relief at the fact that she was gone for good. Next to him, Bowser did an uppercut and roared in triumph.

Before anyone could get too comfortable, however, Marth saw a large shape out in the distance that had a familiar visage on its front, and he muttered, "Is that...?" The shape parted a cluster of clouds, revealing that it was indeed the Halberd, Meta Knight's imposing battleship that had played a significant role in the Subspace debacle back during the aftermath of the third tournament. Marth frantically tugged at Lucario's shoulder to get his attention, and the Aura Pokémon turned around before letting out a quiet exclamation of shock.

* * *

Within the Halberd, its pilot, Meta Knight, noticed an airborne platform that seemed to originate from Shroob Castle, given how the humongous effigy of Princess Shroob on the castle's roof was split open. Pulling up a scope on his control panel, Meta Knight began spying on the platform floating above the castle to get a closer look at the people and creatures that could possibly be on it. Upon getting a closer look, the masked swordsman saw that all but two of them were among the many targets that Dharkon had commanded him to be on the lookout for, with the two that were not included in the briefing seeming to solidly be on their side. Narrowing his eyes as he retracted the scope, Meta Knight pushed another button on the console, activating the ship's laser. The laser began charging as smaller targeting lasers swiveled around before zeroing in on the platform. Once the laser had finished charging, Meta Knight coolly watched as the laser fired at the platform, scoring a direct hit.

Meanwhile, the Smashers were resting on the platform until something struck it, causing an explosion that rocked it and knocked everyone off their feet, Bowser in particular sliding to the edge and nearly falling off, with a timely save from Mario being the only thing that prevented him from falling to his doom, albeit only barely. The platform then righted itself, and Mario was quickly beginning to struggle in helping Bowser back up. Mario began to open his mouth to call for the others to help him, but Bowser shook his head, looking down at the ground and back up at Mario before winking to let him know what he had planned. It took Mario a second, but he understood what Bowser had in mind, and he let go of Bowser's hand, watching as he fell to the ground.

The wind rippled in Bowser's face as he fell, and with full knowledge of what was to come, he didn't even bother bracing for impact as he smashed into the ground, his vision going black the moment he did so.

Up above on the platform, everyone else was slowly beginning to get back up, and Marth quickly began to take a headcount to make sure that no one had fallen off the platform. Once he was done, the Altean prince looked at Mario, who was staring over the edge at something. Marth, remembering that Bowser was not present in the headcount he had taken, frantically asked Mario, "What are we going to do now?"

Mario casually replied, "I-a wouldn't be so worried if-a I were you."

"What?!"

"It's-a Bowser, he's survived _far_ worse, this-a fall is basically nothing to him."

Marth was about to protest, but he saw something rising up to their level from the ground and quickly fell silent. Mario looked to where Marth was staring and nonchalantly said, "Yup, that's-a Bowser," and everyone else also looked to the rising shape with reactions similar to that of Marth.

The worryingly large amount of times Kamek had infused Bowser with magic throughout his life, in addition to the four times Mario and Luigi had to resuscitate him during the Blorbs pandemic, had left some sort of side effect on the Koopa King where his body would grow to an enormous size whenever it was threatened with a traumatic, potentially fatal situation, which was exactly what it was doing at the moment.

Bowser continued to grow and grow until the Halberd was at roughly where the upper half of his chest was, and he roared, the sound echoing all across the Dark Realm. Looking down, Bowser kicked Shroob Castle, his gigantic foot completely pulverizing the castle and leaving nothing but ruins. To make sure that the Shroobs would stay gone, Bowser turned around and breathed a constant stream of fire from his mouth at the pile of rubble that was once Shroob Castle, torching any survivors in a hellacious rain of fire. Once he was done, Bowser turned towards the Halberd, which had rose up to the level of his chin, and he boomed, " _It's gonna take a LOT more than that to take down the king of awesome, buddy!_ " before winding up and punching the Halberd, causing an engine to explode, swiftly putting the battleship in a disadvantageous situation.

The Halberd let loose with a maelstrom of lasers, all of which only irritated Bowser, who, after letting his guard down, breathed a stream of fire that washed over the whole ship, torching the top deck and making its insides uncomfortably hot. Taking advantage of the situation, Bowser grabbed the Halberd in his hand and snapped it in two just by tightening his fist. Watching dismissively as the front half of the ship dropped to the ground near a realm that resembled the Triforce, Bowser threw the back half onto the ground and stomped on it, ignoring what was likely explosions going off underneath his foot as he walked over to the front half of the ship to finish the job. Before he could do so, however, he began to rapidly shrink down to his normal size, and when said process was done, he found himself standing in front of the half of the Halberd that he hadn't destroyed.

Up in the sky, Mario looked down at the ship's remains and thought, _"Wait... that's the Halberd..."_ The realization hit him with the force of a ballistic Banzai Bill, and Mario turned back to the others and said, "We-a need to get off-a this platform. Get down to what-a remains of that ship in-a whatever way you can." With those words, Mario pulled out a pair of wings and tossed Cappy up into them, giving the Baby Luma that had resided beneath his hat some time to catch his breath. Cappy fluttered down onto Mario's head, and the Bonnetor blinked to shake off some of his dizziness from being tossed up like that. With a series of three jumps and a flip, Mario had taken flight, and was quickly beginning to make his way to Bowser.

Jigglypuff simply walked off the platform and followed Mario's lead, slowly floating down, and Lucario zipped off the platform with Extreme Speed, before turning back to face it and using a combination of Flash Cannon and Dragon Pulse to propel himself even further with the recoil the two moves were giving him.

On the platform, Arvus was thinking of something to do without having to use Zoom, given how if used incorrectly, the spell would end up warping him and the others to somewhere undesirable, and he absently summoned a Woosh in his hands while mulling over his dilemma. Seeing the spell gave him an idea, and he tested out his theory by summoning two Woosh spells, one underneath his feet and another slightly above his head. The spell underneath his feet catapulted him upwards into the other Woosh, and _that_ one vaulted him up even higher. Upon landing, Arvus looked around and saw that much to his surprise, the two tornadoes were still active, and that detail was all he needed to set his plan into motion. Looking at Marth, Arvus said, "I have an idea..." Watching as Marth raised his hand and opened his mouth, Arvus hastily added, "No, it does not involve us taking a wild risk like we did down in the castle," and the hero king lowered his hand, waiting for Arvus to continue. Back on his train of thought, Arvus said, "What if I used Woosh," generating a small tornado in his palms and throwing it on the ground before jumping off to demonstrate before continuing, "And we jump over to that ship that Mario was talking about by using these tornadoes as platforms of some sort?"

"You know what... that's not such a bad idea, Arvus," Marth said, smiling at him in approval. Looking back at the others, Marth said, "Let's go!" as Arvus jumped off the platform and propelled himself up with Woosh, before creating another that was slightly below the previous tornado and repeating the process as he went towards the ship. Marth looked at Terry and Lucas before motioning for them to follow him as he jumped off the edge of the platform... and sprung back up into their line of sight thanks to Arvus' spell. Marth then began following Arvus' trail, and Terry and Lucas were quick to follow, the Southtown native letting out a whoop of joy as he jumped from tornado to tornado, while Lucas, despite initially being uncomfortable with the idea of jumping in tornadoes, soon came to enjoy it, using his PSI to give himself an extra boost when coupled with the height the spell was giving him.

Down on the ground, Bowser punched through another sheet of metal he had found in the ship's wreckage to kill some time and practice his punches, as he had no idea what to do at the moment, until he heard someone land behind him. Turning around, he saw that it was Mario, the plumber plucking the wings off his hat and storing them somewhere. Mario then asked him, "Hey Bowser, can-a you help me with getting into this-a ship? I think that-a Meta Knight is buried somewhere inside..." Bowser complied, ripping the front of the Halberd off the ship's body bit by bit, eventually creating a pathway large enough for the two Star Children to squeeze into to access the cockpit. Once inside, the two of them found a pile of rubble with a jagged golden blade sticking out of it, and Mario ran over before beginning to pull the pieces of the ship off Meta Knight, with Bowser assisting him for the heavier pieces, until they eventually found Meta Knight unconscious underneath.

Picking up Galaxia, Mario and Bowser (the latter holding Meta Knight by the cape) exited the Halberd's interior, where they saw Lucario and Jigglypuff come in for a landing, followed by Arvus somehow tripping over a miniaturized tornado and falling face-first on the ground, before pulling himself back up relatively quickly and dusting himself off. Just as the remaining three Smashers landed, Meta Knight woke up and used his Dimensional Cape to get out of Bowser's grip before smacking Galaxia out of Mario's hands and teleporting to catch it. Once he had glided over to the wreckage of his ship, Meta Knight, his eyes flashing red to indicate that he was mad, calmly began, "Now tell me... what in the name of Nova happened here?! The last thing I remember was getting hit on the head by a metal sheet and before that, Kirby getting away from all those light beams..."

Mario explained, "Well, we-a defeated the ball of light that-a caused that humongous massacre... and then something else came out of-a the sky... literally tore right through it, and took control of-a everyone we hadn't rescued yet, including you."

"I see..."

"But-a since we just finished with something, we're considering taking a break for now. Want to-a join us?" Mario finished those words just as Bowser finished lighting a fire on... something.

"Sure... I guess." Meta Knight, at a loss for what to do, simply opted to join Mario and company in laying low for a while.

* * *

"Get clear!" Everyone did as Snake commanded save for Raiden, who zipped away from the path of Mewtwo's Hurricane and hopped off several floating structures in an attempt to catch the Genetic Pokémon off guard. However, Mewtwo, still unmoving from its elevated position, used Psychic, its eyes flashing blue as it held Raiden in place. Idly flicking its three-fingered hand, Mewtwo sent Raiden careening off into the distance, the cyborg ninja being flung into some far-off sect of the Mysterious Dimension. Snake cursed while next to him, Cloud began readying a Limit Break and Solo cast Zoom, the latter rocketing up into the sky while the former began to glow with a blue aura the moment it finished charging.

Cloud then jumped onto a small floating landmass before using a Limit-boosted Climhazzard to propel himself up to the next one, and then charging his Limit once again for the mobility boost it provided him. Next to him, Mega Man sprung up from seemingly out of nowhere, confusing the ex-SOLDIER until he saw Rush warp to where the Blue Bomber was. With a dry tone of voice, Cloud asked, "What are you doing up here?"

"We've got to save our friends and by extension the universe, and I think Mewtwo will be a really big help in that regard."

Cloud did not react to the obvious deduction Mega Man had stated, and instead unleashed another Limit-boosted Climhazzard, breaking through the ground of the landmass that Solo and Mewtwo were fighting on. Mewtwo turned towards him to assess the threat, and Cloud entered his combat stance while thinking to himself, _"I hate mind readers..."_ before channeling Thundaga along his Buster Sword and swinging at the Genetic Pokémon with an overhead slash that was followed by an inward and then an outwards slash. Mewtwo dodged the first two, but got clipped by the last one, causing it to softly growl before generating a fireball in its hand and pointing it to Cloud. With an almost instantaneous flash, the fireball became Flamethrower, and Cloud ended up taking the blast head-on. However, he activated Big Guard within a second of the flames making contact with his skin, managing to avoid any particularly nasty burns that would've occurred had he not used that skill. After taking a moment to thank his lucky stars for slotting his bracelet with an Enemy Skill Materia, Cloud snapped his fingers, casting Bioga.

A humongous blob of sickly green poison began to form around Mewtwo, and when Cloud squeezed his fist, the bubble began to close in on the Genetic Pokémon, exploding the moment it touched its tail. When Cloud saw Mewtwo stand up, he saw that its face was tinged with a pale shade of green and its eyes were narrowed in fury, shooting Solo with a point-blank Shadow Ball after pulling him in with Psychic. Mewtwo attempted to do the same with Cloud, but was stopped by something hitting him from behind, presumably an explosive. Whirling around, Mewtwo looked around for the attacker, but found nothing, only for something to hit it from behind once again. Pointing its hand behind it, Mewtwo shot a Shadow Ball towards its back, and it hit nothing. Turning back around, Mewtwo saw that Cloud was tending to Solo, while next to the two heroes was...

 _"The walking arsenal."_ Mewtwo regarded the Blue Bomber with a hint of contempt in its voice, and Mega Man said nothing in response, instead opting to cock his Mega Buster in preparation before merging with Rush with the help of the Super Adaptor.

Running in, Mega Man charged a Hyper Rocket Buster and let it rip, the metal fist striking Mewtwo in its face. Once his arm returned to him, Mega Man switched to the Slash Claw and let loose with a trio of slashes, all three of them striking the Genetic Pokémon, causing it to stagger. Growling, Mewtwo charged both of its hands with electricity and let loose with a dual Thunderbolt, but Mega Man, summoning Rush, used Rush Coil before calling on Beat to get him above Mewtwo. Once Beat let go and he began falling to the ground, Rock switched weapons to the Knight Crusher, and a chain with a spiked ball on the end extended from his Mega Buster, creating a makeshift mace for the Blue Bomber. Mega Man then swung his weapon down on Mewtwo with all his might, throwing up several large chunks of rubble as he did so. When the dust cleared, however, Mewtwo was revealed to have teleported away at the last second.

With a small snort, Mewtwo idly flicked its hand, casting Cloud and a recovering Solo off the landmass using Psychic and then turning around to face Mega Man, who was struggling to pry his weapon out from the deep imprint he had made in the ground. A small smirk creeping up on its face, Mewtwo clenched one of its hands into a fist of sorts, and a large current of electricity began crackling along its arm, turning into a ball once it reached Mewtwo's knuckle. Holding the golden globe of electricity above its fist, Mewtwo then hurled the Electro Ball towards Rock, who ended up taking the full brunt of the blast. Hovering forward, Mewtwo doubled over slightly, a result of the Bioga spell Cloud had cast earlier.

Mega Man's eyes were slightly dimmed from the Electro Ball, and he had trouble moving his right arm, due to that one being the part of his body that the move had hit first. Gritting his teeth, Mega Man, using his left arm as if he were a gunslinger, switched to the Crystal Eye and fired a rather large chunk of crystal, before switching back to the Mega Buster and shattering it with three shots, turning the Crystal Eye into a buckshot of crystalline chunks that was headed straight for the Genetic Pokémon. However, Mewtwo stopped the spread of shrapnel in midair with Psychic before flicking his hand to his right and sending the crystals to parts unknown.

Rock summoned Eddie with a flick of his hand, and the small robotic helper warped in and provided an E-Tank for the Blue Bomber before warping back out. After taking a quick swig of the drink, Mega Man saw Mewtwo clench its fist and rip a large amount of pointed stones out of the ground before sending them towards him. Gritting his teeth, Mega Man switched to the Junk Shield and activated his Power Gear at the same time, and the Stone Edge harmlessly bounced off the-now supercharged chunks of scrap metal, which Mega Man reacted to by charging at Mewtwo and dispersing his entire ring of junk right at the Genetic Pokémon's face.

Meanwhile, down on the ground, Cloud was helping Solo back to his feet to continue the healing process, and under his breath he muttered, "I hate Mewtwo... that psychic freak almost broke my mind in our final match at the previous tournament."

In his head, Aerith's Spirit gently chided, _"Cloud..."_

"Yeah, yeah, I get it..."

Greninja, however, had heard what Cloud said, and looked at Incineroar and whispered, _"He said that it's Mewtwo up there..."_

 _"Mewtwo? You mean like the one that was involved in the New Tork City incident?"_

Nodding, Greninja replied, _"The one and the same. My Trainer also told me that it was the same Mewtwo from the Mount Quena incident too."_ A thin smile having worked its way onto his face behind his tongue scarf, Greninja turned to Incineroar and said, _"Want to head up there? Considering that we're Dark-types, we have an innate advantage over it."_

Incineroar flashed a cocky grin and nodded, and Greninja transformed into his Ash-Greninja form... proceeding to leave Incineroar in the dust as he used Bounce to hop onto the landmass that Mewtwo was on in a single bound. As the Heel Pokémon stared dumbfounded, Snake slapped something into his hands and advised, "Hold onto that and don't look down until you've reached where you want to go." Incineroar was then slowly lifted into the air by Snake's Cypher until he reached the landmass where Mewtwo was fighting Mega Man and Greninja.

Letting go of the Cypher, Incineroar touched down on the ground in a three-point stance, his fist creating a small web of cracks in the ground around him. As Mewtwo turned around to face him, Incineroar let out a roar before beckoning at Mewtwo with a finger, saying, _"All right then, show me whatcha got, you overgrown Skitty!"_

Mewtwo did not appear to be fazed by the insult at all, and its tail began to glow with a blue sheen as a swirl of water surrounded it, and it swung its tail at Incineroar, who blocked the Aqua Tail attempt with a Thunder Punch before attempting to strike with Throat Chop. Mewtwo caught Incineroar's other hand (one was still occupied with blocking the Aqua Tail), and his eyes flashed green, indicating that he had used Disable. The hand that Incineroar had used for Throat Chop suddenly stopped glowing purple, and he forced Mewtwo to retreat by successfully stopping the Aqua Tail from hitting him and rearing back his now-free hand for another Thunder Punch. Once Mewtwo had retreated, Incineroar tried to use Throat Chop again, but to no avail thanks to the Disable. With his belt, Incineroar created an aura of fire around himself and charged forward to where Mewtwo was with Flare Blitz.

Greninja, having blocked a point-blank Thunderbolt with his shuriken, stole a quick glance to his right and saw that Incineroar was rapidly approaching the two of them with Flare Blitz. Taking initiative, Greninja gestured at Mega Man before tripping Mewtwo with Low Kick and then binding its legs together with Grass Knot. Greninja quickly used Shadow Sneak to warp over to Mega Man and whispered, _"Think you can shackle his arms too?"_

Mega Man replied, "Yeah, I can do that," switching to the Concrete Shot and shooting two globs of the substance onto Mewtwo's arms, where they quickly hardened and left it shackled to the ground, leaving Mewtwo to watch helplessly as Incineroar performed a rather high leap before coming down with a flaming elbow drop, his body still cloaked in flames.

The moment Incineroar hit the ground, the air around Greninja and Mega Man got uncomfortably hot as superheated gusts of wind were being blown around by the force of the explosion that had occurred, and Mega Man quickly switched to the Tundra Storm and blew a weak version of the attack in his face to cool off, slightly blowing his helmet askew in the process and revealing some of his hair.

Looking at Mega Man, Greninja asked, _"_ _So why did your creator give you and your sister hair, anyway?"_

"Well, he was looking to make a replacement for his original creation, Blues... my brother. I guess he designed us with human children in mind for that reason, but I can't be too sure... my memories of the time around my activation are pretty hazy." Greninja nodded and made a noise of acknowledgement while the two of them waited for the firestorm to die down. Once the heat had mostly subsided, it was revealed that while Incineroar had managed to score quite the blow on Mewtwo, it was still not down, and with its eyes narrowed, it fired a pair of Aura Spheres from its hands, one aimed at Incineroar and the other at Greninja. The latter's eyes widened in alarm as the super effective attack hit him head-on, launching him back a good distance, while Incineroar tried to move, only to realize that Mewtwo had bound his legs to the ground by using Psychic to construct shackles from the ground he was standing on, most likely while it was feigning injury.

Before the attack could make contact, however, Rock switched his weapon to the Black Hole Bomb and detonated it almost immediately, causing the attack to be sucked into the event horizon and disappear before the black hole closed just as quickly. Incineroar then began to strike the shackles on his feet with Brick Break in an effort to free himself, while Mega Man called for Tango. The robotic cat warped in and affectionately snuggled up to Rock, who petted it in return, before turning towards Mewtwo and letting out a hiss.

The Genetic Pokémon had a look of slight surprise on its face as the cat charged forward and scratched its face before warping away, preventing Mewtwo from getting any sort of retaliation attack on it. Mewtwo then clenched its hand, creating a ball of fire in it, and then it shot a Flamethrower at Mega Man, who switched to the Ice Wall and created a temporary shield. Not to be deterred, Mewtwo increased the intensity of the heat, and the Flamethrower punched right through the Ice Wall, forcing Mega Man to dodge. However, Mewtwo failed to notice that Incineroar was standing behind it, and it ended up receiving a hellacious Darkest Lariat to the back of its head, knocking it unconscious.

Incineroar dusted off his hands in a satisfied fashion before flexing and letting out a triumphant, _"Oh, YEAH! Suck it!"_ Looking at Mega Man, the Heel Pokémon folded his arms and asked, _"So... what do we do now?"_

Mega Man offered, "Well, we can wait for him to wake up." Looking to his right, he saw a weary Greninja charging up Dark Pulse in his hands, and he asked, "Wait wait wait, what are you doing, Greninja?!"

 _"Can't be too safe, especially not with Mewtwo..."_

Mega Man took a moment to mull it over before saying, "Yeah, that's a good point," switching over to the Black Hole Bomb and pointing his Buster at Mewtwo, while behind Mewtwo's prone body, Incineroar's arms began to glow with Dark-type energy as he took on a wrestler's stance.

After a bit, Mewtwo's eyes opened, revealing that his sclera had turned back to normal and indicating that he was indeed free of Dharkon's possession. Mega Man switched back to the Mega Buster once he saw that, however, Greninja and Incineroar both kept their attacks at the ready, the Ninja Pokémon saying, _"Your card. Where is it?"_

 _"Yeah, show it or we're gonna have to kick your ass again-"_

 _"Not now, Incineroar."_

 _"Hm... I guess I don't have an option here, do I?"_ Mewtwo then extended one of its hands and its Fighter Pass materialized from seemingly out of nowhere, a grey and purple card with the number 24 marked on it. Greninja and Incineroar stopped preparing their attacks, and Mewtwo then asked, _"I assume that we've got a new problem on our hands now, don't we?"_

"How did you know about Dharkon already?"

 _"Because, Rock, I've seen his seeds everywhere in the Dark Realm. And on another note, I think you may want to contact our other comrades, considering a Shadow Regigigas is heading towards Dracula's Castle..."_ Mega Man tilted his head in confusion as he took off his helmet to polish it, while Greninja and Incineroar exchanged incredulous glances.

"We haven't been able to communicate with the others at all within this... pocket dimension."

 _"I see."_

Incineroar then asked, _"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what's so bad about a Regigigas? Ain't it saddled with Slow Start?"_

 _"That Regigigas has Pressure because Galeem forced me to use Skill Swap on it."_

 _"Oh... but doesn't that mean that_ you're _the one with Slow Start now?"_

 _"I copied another Pokémon's Ability with Role Play. I'm not sure what it does exactly, but it seems that moves with increased effectiveness will be even stronger from what I've tested it on..."_

Wincing as he turned back to his normal appearance, Greninja said, _"Yeah, that Aura Sphere you hit me with hurt a whole lot..."_

Mewtwo then looked Greninja up and down before asking, _"Wait. Are you Ash Ketchum's Greninja?"_

Squinting, Greninja looked at Mewtwo suspiciously and asked, _"What does my Trainer have to do with this?"_

Shaking its head, Mewtwo said, _"Nothing. Forget that I asked."_

After an awkward silence, Mega Man butted in with, "Hey, I hate to be a bother at this time, but I think our friends down there could use a lift up here..."

 _"Of course."_ Mewtwo's eyes flashed purple, and the rest of the group was transported up in an instant. Looking at the rest of the Smashers it had transported up to where it, Rock, Greninja, and Incineroar were, Mewtwo noticed that the soldier was staring at him with apprehension clearly present on his face, which left him confused.

Popo casually mentioned, "Snake doesn't trust psychics or mind readers at all, just in case you're wondering."

 _"Is that so?"_

Nana nodded, finishing, "Something about a 'Psycho Mantis,' from what I remember hearing in the third tournament..."

 _"Unfortunate."_

Mewtwo was about to go mind its own business until it felt someone tap its shoulder. Turning around, it saw that Mega Man had a sheepish smile on his face, and the robot asked, "I hope you don't mind doing this other thing, but... we also had another friend of ours who got catapulted into..." Taking a moment to remember where he had seen Matthew fly, Mega Man then finished, "That forest over there," pointing to a forest with wispy black curls of smoke creeping out of it. Nodding, Mewtwo began to concentrate in order to pinpoint the exact location of the person Mega Man had asked for it to locate, and it managed to get a quick glimpse... only for its mind to be overwhelmed by a dangerously large amount of dark energy that was exuding from them, with the last thing it saw before severing the connection being Dharkon's eye. Mewtwo's eyes flew wide open and it almost doubled over, clutching its head, causing Mega Man to look at it with concern and ask, "What's wrong? What did you see?"

 _"I think your companion's in very, very close proximity with Dharkon... the last thing I saw before I was forced to stop looking was Dharkon himself."_

That last bit caught Mega Man by surprise, and with a commanding tone of voice, he looked the Genetic Pokémon right in the eye and said, "Take us to him. _NOW_."

 _"Very well."_ Mewtwo began concentrating before remembering something and asking Mega Man, _"Tell Greninja and Incineroar that they need to get to us as quickly as possible. I can't teleport the two of them as they're Dark-types."_

"Right..." Mega Man quickly ran over and relayed the news to Greninja and Incineroar, the latter facepalming while the former morphed into his Ash-Greninja form and nodded, before turning to Incineroar to discuss something. Once that was done, Mega Man turned to Mewtwo and gave it the thumbs-up, signaling that the Teleport was ready to go.

Mewtwo began concentrating, and when it opened its eyes, it saw that it and the others were at the place where it had seen Matthew, just at the outskirts of that dark forest he had seen. Next to him, Greninja and Incineroar landed while Mega Man was telling the others, "Matthew is somewhere around this place, if we split up we can-"

"You looking for me?"

Mega Man and the others turned around to see Matthew leaning on the Sol Blade with a confused expression on his face, and Mega Man and the others bore relieved expressions on their faces as they approached the Adept, glad to see that he was alright after being launched so far away from them. Snake then noticed something shiny on Matthew's hand that definitely wasn't there the last time he saw him, and he asked, "Hey kid, what's with the new ring?"

Matthew took on a more somber expression as he said, "You remember Artorias from earlier?" Snake nodded, and Matthew halfheartedly continued, "I had to kill his companion for this," flashing the Covenant of Artorias at Snake, who grimly nodded before taking a look at the group's surroundings.

Joker had also noticed something about the area they were standing in, and he asked the others, "Is it just me, or is the only way out of this forest through that building over there?" pointing towards said building to let the others know where he was looking.

Once the group started walking towards the building, Bayonetta activated her Bat Within, playfully calling out, "Last one there is a snack for my beautiful demons!" as she began to race towards the building. When she looked back and saw that no one was even bothering to race her, she transformed back into her normal form, muttering, "Killjoys..."

Meanwhile, Matthew was lagging behind the rest of his companions, and he noticed a small puddle of surprisingly clean water next to him. Taking a moment to rinse his face, once Matthew lowered his hands, he saw, much to his horror, that his left eye had become electric blue with slitted pupils much like that seed of Dharkon he had encountered in the Abyss-tainted woods, but when he blinked, his eye had turned back to normal. For a moment, the Adept could only stare at the water with shock, only to be interrupted by Mega Man calling out, "Matthew?"

"Coming!" Matthew sprinted back up to the others, trying to forget about what he had just seen. When he got there, he saw Mega Man switching to a brown-and-white color scheme before effortlessly ripping apart the door to the building, revealing a dark room with no lights to speak of whatsoever.

Undaunted, the Blue Bomber switched to the Flash Stopper and activated it, illuminating the room. From there, he led the others inside, with him holding his Mega Buster at the ready just in case something was looking to attack them.

* * *

 **I think the opening and closing notes are going to be silent for the foreseeable future.**

 **Group 1 (Dracula's Castle): Luigi, Ness, Peach, Villager, Rosalina, Simon, Daisy, Isaac, Samus, Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Mr. Game & Watch, Eight, Ike, Ken, Robin, Richter, Byleth**

 **Group 2 (Frantic Factory): Link, Banjo, Ridley, Toon Link, Ryu, Zelda, Inklings (Meggy, Evan), Mii Swo** **rdfighter, Red (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), Falco, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, R.O.B., Pichu, King K. Rool, Luminary, Geno**

 **Group 3 (Mysterious Dimension): Matthew, Joker, Snake, Kirby, Dr. Mario, Cloud, Fox, Greninja, Mega Man, Little Mac, Pit, Piranha Plant, King Dedede, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Incineroar, Bayonetta, Solo, Corrin, Mewtwo**

 **Group 4 (Shroob Castle): Mario, Bowser, Erdrick/Arvus, Marth, Jigglypuff, Lucas, Terry Bogard, Lucario, Meta Knight**

 **Group 5 (Puppet Fighters with known whereabouts): Young Link**

 **Apollo Sanctum key pieces: 4/13**


End file.
